Downfall (Der Untergang) (2004)
94%RT Audience Score: 94%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 Oscar
22 wins & 34 nominations total
Downfall is an illuminating, thoughtful and detailed account of Hitler’s last days.
If you’re looking for a movie that will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, Downfall is definitely not it. But if you want a gripping, intense, and brutally honest look at the final days of Hitler and the Third Reich, then this is the movie for you. The performances are incredible, especially Bruno Ganz as Hitler, who manages to make you feel both repulsed and sympathetic towards the man. It’s not an easy watch, but it’s an important one, and it will stay with you long after the credits roll. Just maybe don’t watch it on a first date.
Production Company(ies)
Constantin Film Norddeutscher Rundfunk Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Distributor
Newmarket Film Group
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
St. Petersburg, Russia
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for strong violence, disturbing images and some nudity
Year of Release
2005
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital DTS
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:2h 34m
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Language(s):German, Russian, French, English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Sep 8, 2004 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 2, 2005
Genre(s)
War
Keyword(s)
Downfall, R, War, 2h 34m, Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Corinna Harfouch, Ulrich Matthes, Juliane Köhler, Heino Ferch, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, written by Bernd Eichinger, produced by Bernd Eichinger, reviewed by David Ansen, Roger Moore, Marc Savlov, Rene Rodriguez, Rick Groen, Geoff Pevere, James Croot, Leigh Paatsch, Miles Fielder, Tracy Moore, David Keyes, Nick Rogers, starring Adolf Hitler, Traudl Junge, Magda Goebbels, Joseph Goebbels, Eva Braun, Albert Speer, illuminating, thoughtful, detailed, Hitler’s last days, Third Reich, box office gross $5.5M, Fresh Kernels, Tomatometer 90%, audience score 94%, some nudity, disturbing images, strong violence, German, Newmarket Film Group, surround sound
Worldwide gross: $92,181,574
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $140,483,182
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 866
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 15,319,867
US/Canada gross: $5,509,040
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $8,395,685
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,672
US/Canada opening weekend: $18,195
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $27,729
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,391
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): 13500000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $20,573,775
Production budget ranking: 1,353
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $11,078,978
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $108,830,429
ROI to date (est.): 344%
ROI ranking: 404
Alexandra Maria Lara – Traudl Junge
Corinna Harfouch – Magda Goebbels
Ulrich Matthes – Joseph Goebbels
Juliane Köhler – Eva Braun
Heino Ferch – Albert Speer
Director(s)
Oliver Hirschbiegel
Writer(s)
Bernd Eichinger
Producer(s)
Bernd Eichinger
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
22 wins & 34 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (141) | Top Critics (39) | Fresh (127) | Rotten (14)
Does Downfall “humanize” Hitler and his henchmen, as its critics have complained? Yes, and it should: to pretend these villains were less than human is to let ourselves off the hook, to take the easy and dangerous exit of demonology.
January 22, 2013
David Ansen
Newsweek
TOP CRITIC
May be the definitive account of Hitler’s final days and the collapse of the Third Reich.
April 8, 2005 | Rating: 4/5
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel
TOP CRITIC
Some demons are too extreme to comprehend, but Hirschbiegel’s film nonetheless provides a painfully unflinching glimpse into the outer workings of the mortally wounded Third Reich.
April 3, 2005 | Rating: 4/5
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
With a steely, unblinking resolve, Downfall stares into the abyss, but does not pretend to comprehend it.
April 1, 2005 | Rating: 3/4
Rene Rodriguez
Miami Herald
TOP CRITIC
Viewed through a North American lens, the movie itself seems more familiar than fascinating, more innocuous than inflammatory, and, at 21/2 hours, more tedious than anything else.
March 18, 2005 | Rating: 2/4
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
TOP CRITIC
For emotional effect it trades less in the spectacle of ebbing power than the tragedy of power’s mysterious thrall.
March 18, 2005 | Rating: 3/4
Geoff Pevere
Toronto Star
TOP CRITIC
It is a stunning performance of light and shade, tracing his descent from total denial to despair, disillusionment and defeat.
March 26, 2021 | Rating: 4.5/5
James Croot
Stuff.co.nz
Most impressive of all is how, with the world closing in on the ranting, paranoid monster, Ganz ratchets down his performance from towering to cowering in minute increments.
April 3, 2020 | Rating: 5/5
Leigh Paatsch
Herald Sun (Australia)
It asks a great deal of indulgence from its audience, almost as though nothing less than an endurance test would do in dealing with this heavyweight subject. And that, despite admirable aims, doesn’t make for great cinema.
April 24, 2019 | Rating: 3/5
Miles Fielder
The List
Provocative look at Hitler’s last days is extremely violent.
May 20, 2014 | Rating: 4/5
Tracy Moore
Common Sense Media
…an unflinching, hard, relentlessly honest movie that refuses to ask questions that have easy answers. It is also brilliantly acted, written and focused…
June 29, 2013 | Rating: 4/4
David Keyes
Cinemaphile.org
“Downfall” isn’t about commuting history’s sentence for the Nazis, but heeding its warning – a gruesome, sustained-tension lesson about informed politics and whether those who left evil to its own devices could arrive at a place of complicit guilt.
September 25, 2010 | Rating: 4/4
Nick Rogers
The Film Yap…
Plot
Charting the last 10 days of Hitler’s life, from his 56th birthday on April 20th, 1945 to his suicide on April 30th, Downfall uses multiple characters to show the chaos of a country coming apart at the seams, from Hitler’s henchman under the streets of Berlin, to the soldiers and civilians fighting and dying as the Soviet Army ravaged the city above. Nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2005.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Bruno Ganz’s portrayal of Adolf Hitler in Downfall is considered one of the best screen performances of the infamous leader.
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