Downfall (Der Untergang)

Downfall (Der Untergang) (2004)

  • 91% of critics liked it
    (133 reviews)

  • 92% of users liked it
    (67,271 ratings)

The last ten days of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime are seen through the eyes of a young woman in his employ in this historical drama from Germany. Traudl Junge (Alexandra Maria Lara) was 22 years old when, in the fall of 1942, she was hired to be personal secretary to Adolf Hitler (Bruno Ganz).… More

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R,
Directed By
Written By
Bernd Eichinger
Genres
Art House & International, Drama
In Theaters
Dec 31, 2004 Wide
Newmarket Films

Critic Reviews

  • Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

    May be the definitive account of Hitler's final days and the collapse of the Third Reich.

  • Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald

    With a steely, unblinking resolve, Downfall stares into the abyss, but does not pretend to comprehend it.

  • Rick Groen, Globe and Mail

    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.

  • Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star

    For emotional effect it trades less in the spectacle of ebbing power than the tragedy of power's mysterious thrall.

  • Richard Nilsen, Arizona Republic

    Hirschbiegel and Ganz are not apologizing for Nazism. They are trying to come to terms with the fact that the evils of Nazism were invented and carried out by human beings.

Read all 13 critic reviews

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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

  • xGary X


    Based on true life memoirs of people who were actually there, this starkly gripping depiction of the last days of the third reich can hardly be described as an enjoyable experience. The german people are suffering terrible hardship as the attacking Russian forces reach Berlin while… More

  • Universal D


    That this, the most accessible, most illuminating film about the end of the Third Reich and the last days of Adolph Hitler, comes from Germany ... well, its mind-boggling. Ganz's performance is soul searing and no one in the piece deserts the high standards he sets. There are… More

  • Anthony L


    Downfall is probably one of the greatest war films ever made, not just because the acting and directing are sublime but because most importantly it is factual and unglorified like many 'classics' of the genres. Most war films have that one special scene that it is remembered… More

  • Jan Marc M


    Downfall is a true portrayal of the last days of a "human" Adolf Hitler along with the death of a social-political ideology in striking detail. An intimate encounter with history that made me understand that commitment to an ideology is deeply founded on personal absolute… More

  • Chris W


    This is not the first film to capture the final days of Hitler and the Third Reich, but it is the only one I have seen, and it is some kind of masterpiece. What seems most amazing to me is that this is a German/Austrian film production. I say this because it is understandable and not… More

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

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Cast

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Trailers & Clips