Reflection on "Downfall"

Downfall is a German movie made by Oliver Hirschiegel. This movie tells the story from Hitler's private secretary's viewpoint of the final days of Hitler leading Nazi Germany to the surrender of the party. This movie was extremely interesting and captivating to watch because it shows us a different viewpoint about World War II. Germanys perspective of the war was that they had to regain power and respect from the rest of Europe. They beleived they had suffered immensilly from World War I.

All of Downfall mostly takes place inside the bunker beneath Berlin where Adolf Hitler and his inner circle spent their final days and died.

It was inruging to watch and analyze the way Hitler speaks. You can see that he starts off somewhat subdued, then escalates the emotion,expressions, and gestures based on the crowd's response. The reason why Hitler was such a great public speaker is because he truly believed what he was saying. His confidence was out of this world which rubbed off on the people of Germany.

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Hitler had strong ideals and unstoppable ambitions to fight for his country. It was only natural that during his speeches people would get infected with his passion which made the german population boosting in confidence and purpose.

Aside from the fact that many young people did not know what they were fighting for, most of the people who knew what they were fighting for, such us high class generals and commanders, eventually turned on Hitler and committed acts of treason.

One of these men includes Hemmel who stated that he had been purposely disobeying Hitler's orders for months. At the end of the movie, as the reich comes to a end, you can see that many of the top generals and commanders ask Hitler if they can leave Berlin so that their lives could be spared. Only a couple of people like Goebbels who were extremely loyal to Hitler stayed with him to the end.

It's more horrifying to think and witness that Hitler's crimes were perpetrated by a fellow human being. For me, the terrifying thing is that he was human, not a monster from Mars. If he had been a monster rather than a man, it would make his acts of violence less inhumane and heartless. A monster is capable of doing anything but everyone knows that one man could never have pulled it off alone. I have always enjoyed the history of World War II and watching movies about it. Especially, that this movie was made by Germans so it showed their perspective. Other films on this subject are usually made by the British or Americans.