A film about Hitler’s last days in the Führer-bunker, Der Untergang is a study in human madness and how far people can take their fanaticism. In this day and age, it is as powerful and relevant a comment as ever. The film is also an example of what the non-Hollywood film industry can achieve when there is less focus on specific crowd-pleasing formulas or plots. Der Untergang, with its success, even proves that it is not necessary to follow such ‘tried-and-true’ ways of making film.

Obviously, Der Untergang is a provocative film, since anything dealing with Hitler is bound to cause reactions everywhere. Without trying to be spectacular or explicit, the film slowly delves into some of the motivations and feelings of the people behind World War Two. Some have argued that the film paints a sympathetic portrait of Hitler, in making him human. These people clearly haven’t seen the film but have instead seen only what they wanted to see; their own fixed preconceptions of what happened and how things were. It is true that Hitler is portrayed as a human in the film, but that is the very strength of the film; people who say that it is wrong to humanize Hitler forget that he was human.

In insisting on this very fact, the film shows that this is something which is not unique, which is not inconceivable, which could happen again. Indeed, it has happened since WWII although people said it couldn’t. Rwanda, Bosnia and similar places have experienced their own genocides. It is necessary to understand that what happened in Germany prior to WWII was the work of humans and not inhuman monsters. Just because Hitler is shown to be human in the film does not mean he is shown as a pleasant person. He is clearly insane and utterly lost in his own fanaticism. Hearing him talk about how the people does not deserve to live because they have failed in winning the war is a chilling reminder of how dictators view their subjects; as nothing more than pieces on a chessboard.