Saturday, November 22, 2014

Death in the Bunker: The True Story of Hitler's Downfall (2004)

Director: Michael Kloft

Writer: Michael Kloft

Composer: ???

Starring: Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven, Traudl Junge, Armin D. Lehmann, Rochus Misch.  Narrators: Nick F. Bolton, Martin Heckmann, Corinna Sadlo

More info: IMDb

Plot: The story of Adolf Hitler's final days in the bunker in 1945.



My rating: 9/10

Will I watch it again? Yes.

The video above is a poor representation of the film.  The version I saw was without subtitles and in its original fullscreen aspect ration and not stretched as you see here.  This is an outstanding account of the final few days of Hitler and it goes to great lengths to set up and describe as many details as are known about the situation immediately above the bunker and inside, incorporating interviews with a few surviving members of those with Hitler in the closing days of the war.  It's a remarkable film with superb narration that is loaded with images and video of exactly what they're describing, some of it I've never seen before. The score (what felt like to be one cue continually repeated) is beautifully used and is probably the single most important part in conveying a sense of impending doom. I was captivated from the first moment to the last.  I highly recommend watching this, if possible, and follow it up with the excellent DOWNFALL (2004) or even precede this with BLIND SPOT. HITLER'S SECRETARY (2002).

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