Downfall

In , or in German, Oliver Hirschbiegel reconstructs events in and around the "Führerbunker" in Berlin during the final days of the Third Reich. The Red Army is fast approaching and the German defenders are all but exhausted, but Hitler refuses to surrender. The atmosphere in the bunker becomes ever more oppressive. When Hitler finally realizes the hopelessness of the situation, he prepares to commit suicide. is bookended by two excerpts from an interview in the documentary , but secretary Traudl Junge is by no means the only main character in the film. In addition to her memoirs, the script also made use of the book [] by historian Joachim Fest, and the testimony of a number of other key players such as Albert Speer and army medical officer Ernst-Günther Schenck. But Junge’s perspective remains a clear influence on the presentation of Hitler’s character, as played in the film by Bruno Ganz. In , Hitler repeatedly explodes in a grotesque rage, but in his contact with his young secretary he also shows a fatherly side: a first in the history of Hitler portrayals. In German media, this led to a heated debate on the question of whether it is morally acceptable to present "the monster" in such a human light.