Downfall (film): Difference between revisions

* [[Fate Worse Than Death]]: General Helmuth Weidling got a pint of this: Hitler orders his execution on assumption that he moved his command post to the west. After his attempt to solve the misunderstanding, Hitler was impressed and appointed him as commander of the defense of Berlin.

{{quote| '''Weidling:''' "I'd have preferred to be shot!"}}

* [[Foregone Conclusion]]: And they know it.

* [[Friend to All Children]]: Hitler, of all people, appears as this: The Goebbels' children are obviously fond of him.

** 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]]''

* [[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.

* [[Infant Immortality]]: Averted. Around a dozen children die on-screen over the course of the film.

* [[Ive Come Too Far]]: Spoken by Hitler himself during the [[Villainous Breakdown|infamous rant]].

* [[Mama Bear]]/[[Papa Wolf]]: Subverted. Many parents in this film kill themselves and their own children.

* [[Offing the Offspring]]:

** Ernst-Robert Grawitz commits suicide in his apartment during dinner with his wife and three children--by detonating a grenade and killing his family along with him. Also an example of [[Pater Familicide]].

* [[Pet the Dog]]: The opening scene where Hitler [[Nice to The Waiter|plays the friendly uncle whilst interviewing a nervous group of women for a new secretary]]. At one point, he literally pets his dog, Blondi, before testing Traudl's abilities as a secretary.

* [[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.

* [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here]]: Fegelein, Speer, Himmler, among others.

* [[Sidelong Glance Biopic]]

* [[The Starscream]]:

** Himmler plans to secretly negotiate with the Allies, and his greatest concern is whether to greet [[Dwight D Eisenhower|General Eisenhower]] with the Nazi salute or a handshake. Too bad the only choice he was left with was death by hanging or by [[Cyanide Pill]] in his prison cell.

** Hitler starts seeing Starscreams all around him (to [[Properly Paranoid|greater]] or [[The Schizophrenia Conspiracy|lesser]] degrees of accuracy), blaming defeat on everyone but himself.

* [[Simple Score of Sadness]]: ''[[Crowning Music of Awesome|And]] [[Tear Jerker|how]]''.

* [[Stepford Smiler]]:

** Eva continues smiling even when things are at their bleakest. It might be a bit of a subversion in that she insists that she really is happy, in spite of it all, with no regrets and unafraid to die.

* [[Sympathy for The Devil]]: See the quote under [[Anti-Villain]].

* [[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".

* [[This Cannot Be!]]

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

* [[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.

** This is truth in fiction of course, but Hitler's generals are such "yes men" they will never disobey him (Wilhelm Keitel's nickname was "Lakeitel, a pun on the German word for lackey). At best, some implore him to see reason, but refuse to outright turn on him. The most any of them ever does is when (the unseen) Felix Steiner refuses to launch a counterattack against surrounding Soviets... only because Hitler insisted he attack using imaginary units, and his remaining forces were (despite Hitler's crazed claims) in reality outnumbered ten to one.

** Even Joseph Goebbels -- Yes Man among Hitler's Yes Men -- has his fair share of private admissions of defeat, even as he seems to ''honestly believe'' everything Hitler says, knowing all too well that, as Hitler's right-hand man, getting out of Berlin alive is nigh-impossible.

** Subverted with Albert Speer, one of the few people who tries to convince Hitler that the war is truly lost, even pointing out that most of his generals already think the same, even as they are too spineless to ever say it to his face.