Many will be already familiar with the final bunker scene, and its endless parodies.

Simon Heffer, of The Telegraph, writes (14 May 22):

'Eichinger based his screenplay on two highly authoritative accounts of the Reich’s and Hitler’s denouements: Joachim Fest’s Inside Hitler’s Bunker and Until The Final Hour, by Traudl Junge, who at 22 became Hitler’s confidential secretary. In an interview included on the DVD of Downfall Eichinger says that he aimed for complete historical accuracy.'

'The intense credibility of Downfall is sealed by its superb location shooting...'

'...but the star, inevitably, is Bruno Ganz as Hitler himself. His is one of the most astonishingly brilliant performances I have ever seen in any film. To prepare for the role, Ganz, a Swiss-German, studied the dialect of the Linz area in Austria, where Hitler was born; and listened in depth to a rare tape of him in a private conversation – that is, not ranting dementedly on a public platform – to try to mimic his voice exactly. Aided by exceptional make-up, Ganz looks and sounds so convincing that one quickly feels one is in the presence of Hitler; it is a far from pleasant sensation, especially when the deranged Führer launches into one of his spectacular outbursts, and a tribute to the genius of the actor, who died in 2019.'