Agreed to see this with Kevin before realising that it would interrupt my Three Colours sequence, but oh well - I haven't really been in the mood to watch Red (or, for that matter, anything else) these last few nights anyway. Anyway, I thought that it was very good. What do I know about the historical events it portrays? Practically nothing. But nonetheless I felt very strongly that there was a sort of verisimilitude to its representation of those last days in the bunker in Berlin - the film had an almost documentary feel, an impression perhaps augmented by (a) the absence of any overtly cinematic or artistic narrative thread (it's depiction rather than story); and (b) (compensating for (a)) my basic familiarity - no doubt shared by everyone who has watched Downfall - with its subject matter (figures like Himmler, Goebbels, Eva Braun and, needless to say, Hitler himself are instantly recognisable - and of course we all know how this story ends).
I don't really buy into the idea that, by depicting Hitler as human, and capable of human affection and so on, this film somehow runs the risk of inspiring sympathy (or even pity) for him, and of glossing over the unquestionable evil of his deeds. It's a tricky one to work through all the way, though. It's true that he's portrayed believably, and as possessing at least flashes of what we might call humanity (most notably his affection for those of his staff who he believes have not betrayed him), and the spectre of the Jews falls relatively lightly on the film (although the question is certainly not entirely glossed over). However, this does not a sympathetic portrayal make, and I find it hard to imagine that a film such as this could inspire sympathy for Hitler in any way which we might account harmful.
All of which goes to show how much of an exercise in sifting through associations is watching this film - watching it, one is always and inescapably watching a film about Hitler and the collapse of his regime. It would be futile to view Downfall separately from its historical basis - to try to judge it 'on its merits' as a work of art, separate from its subject matter, would be to miss the point. There's something I want to say but the words aren't quite coming out. It's something like: if a film with this storyline had been made, but not explicitly based on the last days of Hitler and his inner circle, nevertheless we would have recognised the story in it and viewed it accordingly. What can I really say about this film apart from describing its effect? I hardly noticed the acting, or the cinematography - which makes me think that both were probably excellent, or at least excellently apt, in that they were believable enough to make the experience seamless. As to its effect: it engrossed me from start to finish. Like I said, I think that it was very good - whatever that may mean in this context.
