Downfall

Saw an interesting movie last night that made me think, feel and reflect (I love when movies do that, sadly most don't) .

The movie is Downfall, which tells the story Hitler's last days in that Berlin bunker as told by his personal stenographer.

Notes: (1) Possible SPOILERS ahead. (2) I am not an historian nor a film critic. I'm just giving my reaction to this movie, that's all.

Downfall (http://imdb.com/title/tt0363163/combined)

I've always been drawn to WWII as it has affected, like countless others, my family and my roots. If it wasn't for the war, my brother and I would have probably grown up in Estonia with a large family, etc.. Talk about a vastly different identity. Instead, my brother and I are living in Canada with only our uncle as a sole family member left. We are quite detached from our heritage and really have little sense of our origins. This is, sadly, a common story throughout my generation and speaks to the magnitude of WWII.

Bruno Ganz plays Hitler and it is certainly a performance of depth, passion and ironies. You come away from the movie seeing Hitler as a human being driven by an unwavering vision as opposed to a monster from the history books. This humanizing of Hitler makes him a much more frightening figure to me. That he had sound reason, rationale and a confidence to follow through of unspeakable crimes again humanity and that an entire nation connected with him in such a deep level, all in the name of pride and nationalism. That when a nation is suffering, as Germany was in the 1930s, all it takes is a confident leader with a vision that restores pride to the once proud people, and the scene is set. How fragile is our world, I wonder? This scenario has repeated itself throughout human history and will continue to. Some say it is happening today, right in front of our eyes. One wonders if there is a future for man when one thinks of these sad chapters of history.

There were many scenes that struck me in the movie but two in particular were quite compelling.

The generals were reporting that the Russians were within minutes of a devastated Berlin and Hitler still believed that he could turn it around with some ingenious strategy. That if he moved the right division to the right spot - everything would be ok. Was this someone who lost his perspective and sense of reality? Or a continuing confidence that carried him to power and beyond? Or was this simply an all-to-familiar human condition that we all suffer from time to time, the refusal to admit that he had lost. That his vision was dead. Denial. It's interesting to see how Bruno Ganz handles the final realization of defeat, as Hitler. I actually felt compassion for the man, a sadness for him. This monster who was responsible for so much pain, so many deaths, and has affected generations - and I felt sad for him. I felt sad for his tortured soul. And I am quite shocked as I find myself writing these statements.

There was another interesting reaction of Hitler's that surprised me. Again, with the Russians closing in, the generals were recommending a surrender to save the German people for more suffering, death and loss. Hitler refused in the name of honour and pride. He was thinking of winning and not the suffering of the German people. In fact to die for Germany, even in this late stage, was far better than surrendering. At one point in the scene, Hitler said (paraphrasing) 'I have no patience for compassion. Those who are compassionate are weak and deserve to die'. In the end, he cared more about himself and winning than the German people. Or did he think that winning WAS FOR the German people and anything less than that, is doomed.

A flood of questions came (and in some cases, recurred) to me after the movie-

(1) I've often wondered how Germans today feel about their place in history?

(I had an opportunity to tutor a German man a few months ago and asked him the question. He said, quite bluntly, "...that the world, specifically Europe, will never forgive us even though I had absolutely nothing to do with it. It's just not fair". Not sure how representative his opinion is, with the majority of Germans, but I can see how many would feel this way).

(2) Will Germany ever be forgiven? Are the sins of the father, the sins of the son?

(3) If you were born and lived in Germany during those times, would you have followed suit? Would you have willingly fought for Hitler? Would you have had a choice?

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Two other German-centered WWII movies come to mind after watching Downfall and would be an interesting discussion to have over a coffee or three...

Fatherland (1994) (http://imdb.com/title/tt0109779/combined) .

Germany won the war and now it's 1964.

Conspiracy (2001) (http://imdb.com/title/tt0266425/combined)

A dramatic recreation of the Wannsee Conference where the Nazi Final Solution phase of the Holocaust was devised.