Shawshank's 岁月点滴

Der Untergang ist ein Deutscher Film. Its English name is Downfall, it’s based on a memoir of Traudl Junge, Hilter’s youngest personal sectary. Unlike other mainstream movies about Adolf Hitler and the final days of the third Reich, which predominantly depict Hitler and people surrounding him as pure lunatics and evils, this film reveals the human side of them. Despite the atrocities he committed to Jews and the rest of the world, he was approachable, and understanding to people around him, at least before Red Army invaded Berlin. During the final days, he developed from disbelief, to denial, derange, delusion, depression, until his demise.
Other characters in the film also demonstrated different reactions to the same pressure and fear when facing the inevitable defeat. Some were hardcore Nazis, they range from top generals, SS soldiers, to even teen Nazi soldiers. Their endings are uniformly similar: they either committed suicide, died in battle, or captured and trialed. SS is supposed to be the force most loyal to the Nazi doctrine, but during the final days split, just as individual human beings. Some doubted the insanity of the war, some, facing the hopeless defeat, resorted to alcohol, some remain calm carrying out the responsibility as a soldier until the end. Overall, the historical characters in the movie all behaved as humans, just like us, with the difference being, some of them simply chose wrong path of ideology, and life, which led to unimaginable destruction to the mankind and their own decease.
As a German’s movie, it offers a unique perspective than the other WWII movies about the Third Reich. It focuses more on the wrongs Nazi has done to the German people, the brain wash, and the stubborn denial to surrender facing the utter defeat. Hilter even vowed not to surrender even if the Germans are beaten back to the stone age.
Overall, the movie uses a bottom-up approach when it comes to tell the story of Hilter & company’s final days, and it well deserves the 8.4 high score on IMDB.