Downfall (film): Difference between revisions

 

* [[Affably Evil]]: Hitler at times, though Himmler fits the trope better.

{{quote| "Sympathy I felt in the sense that I would feel it for a rabid dog, while accepting that it must be destroyed [...] As we regard this broken and pathetic Hitler, we realize that he did not alone create the Third Reich, but was the focus for a spontaneous uprising by many of the German people, fueled by racism, xenophobia, grandiosity and fear."}}

* [[Ate His Gun]]: [[The Movie]].

** Even though you're liable to get shivers the moment you see a [[Evilutionary Biologist|Nazi in a lab coat]], Dr. Ernst-Günther Schenck turns out to be the most heroic character in the film, putting his concern for civilians above his orders from the SS. The real Schenck bordered on being little more than a [[Punch Clock Villain]], but he engaged in human experimentation.

** Grawitz, the head of the ''German Red Cross'' who was simultaneously one of the leading planners of the Nazi human experimentation program (directly responsible for wounding prisoners and intentionally infecting them with gangrene to test treatments on them) appears in the film, but as opposed to a menacing hands-on surgeon, he's portrayed (much as he arguably was) as a cowardly fat bureaucrat, begging Hitler to allow him to flee Berlin rather than face justice at the hands of the Red Army. He takes the coward's way out by killing himself and his entire family with grenades while they're eating dinner (because he knew the Soviets would exact his punishment on his family as well).

** Some in the western audience may notice that Rolf Kanies, who plays Hans Krebs (and is thus even in the infamous rant scene) also played an extremely blatant parody of George W. Bush in cult-favorite ''[[Lexx]]'' some years back. It's [[Hilarious in Hindsight|amusing]] to watch his scenes from ''Lexx'' again after this.

** Thomas Kretschmann as Hermann Fegelein. Astute viewers may recognise him from the 2005 ''[[King Kong]]''. He later had a part in ''[[Valkyrie (Film)|Valkyrie]]'' as Otto Remer. He also portrayed a "good Nazi" in ''[[The Pianist]]''

* [[Historical Beauty Update]]: Compare the real [http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/classes/133d/essays/images/JungePortrait.jpg Traudl Junge], with this [http://images.wikia.com/hitlerparody/images/e/e2/Traudl.jpg one].

* [[Historical Domain Character]]: All of the principal players except for the little boy pressed into combat with the Hitler Youth. He is shown as one of the child soldiers that Hitler comes out to greet on his birthday, but the real little boy that Hitler rather creepily caressed, one Alfred Czech, has no connection with the film character.

* [[Hollywood Light Bulb]]: The fuhrerbunker is lit entirely with photo floods.

* [[Hopeless War]]: That is the situation with [[Nazi Germany]] with its capital under direct siege with the Soviets relentlessly advancing through the city and Hitler's forces have no hope of stopping them.

* [[Pretty Little Headshots]]: They're less pretty than most, but still under-done.

* [[Refuge in Audacity]]: the Nazis didn't invent propaganda but they refined it to previously unseen levels, and even coined the term "Big Lie" (itself a variation of this trope), where the gullible populace believes in even the most absurd statements made by a trusted public figure. Simply put, people are used to hearing smaller, daily lies, particularly from politicians (e.g. "we will lower taxes by a few percentage points" or "rations will get slightly better soon"). In contrast, they won't question so audacious a lie such as "a giant communist conspiracy is trying to destroy Germany" or "we're about to win the war through a massive sneak attack". The "Big Lie" plays on people's sense of what is counter-intuitive. Early in the film, even Hitler honestly seems to believe that a massive pincer attack from the north and south, or at least a counterattack by Felix Steiner, can drive the Soviets out. The generals and SS officers know all too well that the war is lost, but what's truly frightening is that the majority of ground soldiers (particularly young ones), even quite late in the film, honestly believe Hitler's words that the war isn't yet lost... simply because they don't understand just how far off the deep end he went.

* [[Shout Out]]: The poster (see the page image) and several of the opening scenes are framed in direct homage to several of the last known photographs of Adolf Hitler before he killed himself.

* [[Sidelong Glance Biopic]]

** The party scene in the bunker, where there's a palpable sense of dread and forced merriment, with people forcing smiles and continuing to dance and trying to act happy as the bombing gets louder and louder.

* [[Supervillain Lair]]: The genuine article, the Führerbunker.

* [[Taking You With Me]]: Hitler's final plan basically amounted to scorched earth, destroying Germany's infrastructure and abandoning its people to the caprices of the Red Army. He felt they "failed him".

* [[Tanks but No Tanks]]: Despite the generally high levels of historical accuracy in uniforms and equipment, there is a scene that includes one very poor mock-up of a Tiger tank, which is quite jarring. Averted in the use of actual T-34/85s by the Soviets.

* [[This Is What the Building Will Look Like|This Is What Berlin Will (Never) Look Like]]

* [[Those Wacky Nazis]]: As [[Villain Protagonist|Villain Protagonists]].

* [[We Have Reserves]]: Subverted. They don't have reserves, but Hitler keeps trying to act like they do. It's the subject of the infamous rant. Something similar happens with the Volkssturm, officially the "national militia", but actually a desperate last-ditch attempt to throw outdated weapons into conscripted civilians and shove them at the front line on pain of execution. Since most youths and even boys had already been conscripted into the German Army, they were basically rounding up any old men they could find. Multiple scenes are devoted to depicting how civilians are randomly "conscripted" and within a matter of hours thrown at the Soviets, and those who try to run away are executed on sight by the SS. The civilians are then shown being massacred when they attempt to attack the Soviets due to lack of weapons, training and tactics. General Wilhelm Mohnke implores Goebbels that the Volkssturm, of which he's technically in command of, have no effect on the battle, to which Goebbels insists that thousands of militiamen can overcome the well-armed Soviets out of a fanatical belief in the "Final Victory". And when Mohnke insists that their deaths will be meaningless and fruitless, Goebbels [[Complete Monster|drops the charade and defiantly says he doesn't pity them,]] claiming it's ''their'' fault for following him.

* [[What Could Have Been]]: Oliver Hirschbeigel almost didn't direct the film, trying to leave the project to jump to another project that had just lost its original director. However, his contract stated that he couldn't leave the project and had to direct the film. The film that he tried to jump to? ''[[Blade]] Trinity''.

* [[While Rome Burns]]: There are a few desperate attempts to have fun, at Eva's insistence - for example, when everyone is forcing themselves to act happy and dance with the bombing in the background. Finally it gets so loud and so close, that they can't even fake it anymore and are clearly terrified. At this point, Eva jumps up on a table and starts dancing going "Cmon, play the music, I want to dance!" And then, a bomb hits directly over the bunker and one of the walls collapses in a cloud of dust, sending everyone into a panic as the lights flicker.

* [[Windmill Political]]: The film is one of many works that take this view on the then-widely-believed fear of a global Jewish conspiracy; it was ultimately a total crackpot hoax and delusion, but Hitler and his followers honestly believed it -— making them [[Windmill Crusader|Windmill Crusaders]].

* [[World War Two]]

* [[Wouldn't Hurt a Child]]: In the extended cut, Peter takes his deceased teenage commander's pistol and hides as the Soviet troops storm in. After leaving his hiding place, he is found by a Soviet soldier who then says in Russian, "I won't fight a child". He is then shot and left for dead by Peter, who is quickly horrified by what he did.

[[Category:Films of the 2000s]]

[[Category:Downfall]]