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Downfall

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Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })Downfall (German: Der Untergang) is a dramatic film from 2004 recounting the last days of Nazi Germany as the Red Army closes in on Berlin, when Adolf Hitler (Bruno Ganz) and the senior Nazi leadership that remained at his side waited around to die.It is primarily based on the memoirs of Gertraud "Traudl" Junge (Alexandra Maria Lara), one of Hitler's secretaries, and is one of the most accurate portrayals of the last, desperate days of the Third Reich and its effects on the Führer, his closest aides, and ordinary Germans. Other POV characters in the film include Dr. Ernst-Günther Schenck, an SS doctor struggling to help the massive German casualties piling up as the Russians storm the city, and Peter Kranz, a small boy who has been turned into a Child Soldier with the Hitler Youth and sent to the front line.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })The film is also known as the source of all those Hitler Rants videos, wherein the subtitles are edited to satirize all kinds of usually trivial topics. The scene that is used for most of the Hitler Rants is actually a Hitler freakout that occurs after he learns that neither Wenck's 12th Army nor Steiner's Army Group will be coming to the defense of Berlin. In Real Life, both forces were trying only to get West so they could surrender to the Western Allies, with Wenck's forces in particular trying to evacuate as many civilians as they could from the vengeful Red Army while slowing down the latter as much as they could. Other commonly used scenes include Hitler planning Steiner's counter-attack (the aforementioned Freak Out happens when he's told this can't be done), Hitler taking a phone call, Hitler eating dinner and learning that Heinrich Himmler attempted to have Germany surrender, and Otto Gunsche informing Hitler that Fegelein has gone AWOL.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_3'); })
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2020-12-16T22:49:24Z
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2020-12-16T22:49:25Z
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 Downfall / int_12dd1d4c
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RapeAsDrama
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Rape as Drama: Pretty much every female is worried about being raped, mainly by the Russian army.
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 Downfall / int_1514ecc1
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Home Guard
 Downfall / int_1514ecc1
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Home Guard: The Volkssturm are this on paper. In practice they're under-trained conscripts who know next to nothing and die in droves doing things like running out in the open with no regard to cover.
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 Downfall / int_15b2cab3
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Tempting Fate
 Downfall / int_15b2cab3
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Tempting Fate: Hitler does this several times in the film. When fate does respond, he becomes enraged and goes on a rant. In 1942, he assures Traudl that everyone makes mistakes, including himself, and one shouldn't be pressured by them. Fast-forward to 1945, Hitler breaks under pressure by numerous (and often fatal) mistakes, mistakes that are caused by his leadership (yet he refuses to take responsibility for them). Hitler brushes off Himmler's plead to engage negotiations with the Western Allies, saying that Himmler will "have plenty of politics to do" when he's dead. Later, Himmler is negotiating a peace treaty with the Allies and claims that Hitler is now dead. When the generals discuss how much territory was lost to the Red Army during a war room meeting, Hitler assures them that Steiner's assault will bring the situation under control. This forces the generals to deliver the news that Steiner never carried out the attack, leading to Hitler's infamous Villainous Breakdown. Hitler boasts of how natural it is for the strong to eliminate the weak during a dinner talk. Then he receives a report of Himmler betraying him to the Allies, reminding him that he is the weak one in question.
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This Is What the Building Will Look Like
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This Is What the Building Will Look Like: Hitler has a model of his planned new Berlin that will, of course, never exist.
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 Downfall / int_1722aaf
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Hitler Ate Sugar
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Hitler Ate Sugar: Averted. Hitler does a lot of fairly common human things while he holds out as long as he can, despite the horrifying and richly deserved circumstances.
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 Downfall / int_1865f13a
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Apocalypse Anarchy
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Apocalypse Anarchy: Numerous soldiers that are far enough from the ever closing frontline gleefully abandon their positions and get drunk and party away with disconnected civilians while shells blast buildings into rubble and small arms fires echo through the streets. Another scene shows a couple slicing a piece of meat from a dead horse while the battle rages around them.
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 Downfall / int_18ba2fe
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Sound-Only Death
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Sound-Only Death: The suicides of Hitler and Eva Braun, the Goebbels couple and some other Nazi bigwigs.
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 Downfall / int_18baa751
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Historical Villain Downgrade
 Downfall / int_18baa751
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Historical Villain Downgrade: Fegelein was responsible for several atrocities fighting partisans in Yugoslavia and was an unrepentant Nazi. He was also extremely corrupt, even by the standards of the SS. Here he is still not a nice man, with his infamous reputation being implied by generals' disgust of him, but portrayed slightly sympathetically.
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 Downfall / int_18d15922
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Title Drop
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Title Drop: At Hitler's birthday reception, when he's obsessing over his Welthauptstadt Germania model with Speer while the others plead that he evacuate.
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 Downfall / int_19d06ef7
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A Father to His Men
 Downfall / int_19d06ef7
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A Father to His Men: Subverted with Hitler. Many ordinary German soldiers and civilians still look up to him as a father figure, but it turns out he has no qualms about sacrificing them all for his own selfish/crazy reasons (he thought the entire German people had "failed" him). Weidling, who surrenders after Hitler's death and tells German soldiers to lay down their weapons because Hitler has abandoned them, is a more straightforward example of this trope. Burgdorf would not tolerate Hitler insulting or condemning the soldiers (who are dying) as cowards, traitors and failures. For all the good it does.
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The Ghost
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The Ghost: Steiner, Wenck, and Admiral Dönitz, all of whom Hitler believes capable of saving Berlin. With the notable exception of a few scenes, the Red Army is this for most of the film. Outside of those, the most we see of Soviet soldiers in the battle sequences are fleeting glimpses of figures advancing from cover to cover or quickly popping up to fire their weapons before ducking back down again.
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Senseless Sacrifice
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Senseless Sacrifice: Mohnke tries to reason with Goebbels about the under-trained Volkssturm he was being supplied with, saying that they have little hope of actually making a difference and it's just wasting German lives. Goebbels, who of course knows that he isn't coming out of this alive, replies that he doesn't really care.
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 Downfall / int_1e3a9a21
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Angrish
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Angrish: Even German speakers have trouble keeping up with Hitler's infamous rants without subtitles. Note that anyone who's watched actual historical footage of the man's speeches will tell you that is completely accurate to how he talked when he got worked up.
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 Downfall / int_1f250372
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I Need a Freaking Drink
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I Need a Freaking Drink: THE MOVIE. Pretty much everyone at some point needs to get drunk.
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 Downfall / int_208c4494
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With Great Power Comes Great Insanity
 Downfall / int_208c4494
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With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Hitler condemns the German people to death because, apparently, they failed him. He's convinced that the day will be saved at any moment by what one underling refers to as "phantom divisions". He goes about appointing people to key positions seemingly at random. He generally makes many errors; for example, he even orders one general to be executed as a traitor, only to later call him a hero and reassign him to Berlin's faltering defense — all in a span of roughly 40 seconds. (Then again, the execution order was due to a misunderstanding.) Generally, much of Hitler's breakdown seems to revolve around the fact that he utterly fails to recognize his own flaws, and turns his loathing of his own weaknesses at other people and their perceived (whether actual or imagined) weakness.
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 Downfall / int_20a14df0
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Wrong Genre Savvy
 Downfall / int_20a14df0
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Wrong Genre Savvy: All of the Nazis in general but Hitler most of all. For the first half, he keeps delusionally insisting that a last-minute counter-attack (from units that no longer exist) is going to miraculously turn back the Soviets. He insists that it's going to be the biggest reversal in military history (more than Stalingrad was), and his secretaries actually believe him, not realizing he has lost touch with reality. In Hitler's mind, the Nazis are the plucky heroes on the side of good and righteousness who are always saved at the last minute by divine favor: he's wrong. After he finally admits that the war is lost, he thinks this is all a tragedy with the Nazi leadership as the poor victims of everything that happened. In real life, the OSS psychology report on Hitler made a very insightful observation about him: he mentally processed his entire life on the model of a Wagner play, with himself as the main character. He perceived himself as the star of his own movie — as if to say "this siege is a challenge but we're just at the climax of the movie, right before the hero yanks victory out of the jaws of defeat, damn the odds". When real life got in the way, Hitler just couldn't mentally process it (the psych report even accurately predicted that when the war stopped going according to Hitler's "narrative", he would withdraw into his bunker, unable to come to grips with it). The psych report also accurately predicted what Hitler attempts to do in the movie: order Speer to burn down all of German infrastructure, even though the war is ending and this would serve no point except to spite the winners. As the psych report said, Hitler would eventually shift from thinking he was in a Wagnerian epic to a Wagnerian tragedy, the kind where the hero loses at the end and his entire castle burns down around him like a funeral pyre to the gods. He then did everything he could to ensure that as many Germans went down with him as possible in a blaze of glory, as he perceived it - which ended up meaning sending child soldiers to their deaths, and to be a modern-day Nero.
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 Downfall / int_21d70919
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Crapsack World
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Crapsack World: Berlin is being bombed and shelled into a smoking ruin by a ruthless enemy determined to make Germany pay for the war of annihilation they started on them and there is no escape from the top to the bottom for its inhabitants.
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 Downfall / int_222dc873
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Black Comedy
 Downfall / int_222dc873
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Black Comedy: Goebbels's young son, Helmut, remarks that he likes the sound of the Russian artillery because nothing can hurt them in the bunker. Then he hears the sound of Hitler and his wife shooting themselves and cries "Volltreffer!" ("Bullseye!")
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 Downfall / int_24321e44
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Only Sane Man
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Only Sane Man: Filled by several of the viewpoint characters, usually by Traudl Junge throughout most of the movie (particularly when she realizes how absurd Eva's partying is while shells are falling on buildings around them). Albert Speer is one during his brief stay in the bunker, desperately trying to insist to Hitler that his scorched-earth orders are insane, ultimately revealing that he couldn't bring himself to implement such a suicidal order. At this point, even Traudl still vaguely hopes that the war is not lost, because she spends so much time with Hitler who rants that it is not. Speer has to one-up Traudl's "Last Sane Man" delivery at this point, making her finally realize that even Hitler knows the war is lost, or is flat-out delusional. Finally, the trope is subverted by Hitler himself, who sees himself as the Only Sane Man in all of Germany—and, up to that point, many Germans had agreed he was.
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Death of a Child
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Death of a Child: Around a dozen children die on-screen over the course of the film.
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 Downfall / int_27ab0123
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Offing the Offspring
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Offing the Offspring: Magda Goebbels kills her own children because of a political ideology. The film's portrayal differs from Real Life; a Soviet autopsy performed on Helga's body showed numerous large black and blue bruises, indicating that she may have woken up and struggled with her killer. Ernst-Robert Grawitz commits suicide in his apartment during dinner with his wife and three children—by detonating a grenade and killing his family along with him. Also an example of Pater Familicide.
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 Downfall / int_2c12473
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Famous Last Words
 Downfall / int_2c12473
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Famous Last Words: "HEIL HITLER!" Hermann Fegelein "No. Thank you." Ernst-Robert Grawitz "Tomorrow, millions of people will curse me, but fate has taken its course." Adolf Hitler "I need you no longer. Les jeux sont faits.* The die is cast." Joseph Goebbels "I'm sorry. I'm not going anywhere anymore." Schädle
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 Downfall / int_2dae4381
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My Master, Right or Wrong
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My Master, Right or Wrong: Goebbels has a private moment where he breaks down and sobs to Traudl, telling her that Hitler has asked him and his family to leave Berlin (and how this is the only order from Hitler he'll not obey). Traudl can only look at him, wide-eyed and shocked.
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 Downfall / int_2e6a41e0
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Gratuitous English
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Gratuitous English: Burgdorf's Drunken Song has a couple of lines in English.
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 Downfall / int_30a0067b
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Supervillain Lair
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Supervillain Lair: The genuine article, the Führerbunker. We also get a glimpse of the Wolf's Lair at the beginning of the film, a much larger and heavily fortified secret base in East Prussia that fits the trope more.
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 Downfall / int_319e4a2f
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Even Evil Has Standards
 Downfall / int_319e4a2f
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Even Evil Has Standards: Burgdorf mentions early in the film that Nazi party bosses "make him sick". Later, he stands up to Hitler when Hitler insults the Germans soldiers during a rant.
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 Downfall / int_33d5b7f2
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Adapted Out
 Downfall / int_33d5b7f2
comment
Adapted Out: Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, who left the bunker on April 23, does not appear in the film. Other prominent Nazi officials who were in the bunker, including German Labour Front leader Robert Ley, Hitler's lead physician Theodor Morell, Hitler's chief adjutant Julius Schaub, Hitler's pilot Hans Baur, Martin Bormann's brother Albert, RSD head Johann Rattenhuber, and Gestapo chief Heinrich Müller, do not appear. Gotthard Heinrici and Ferdinand Schörner, who commanded significant units outside Berlin, are not mentioned. Blondi is depicted as being the only dog in the bunker, when there were actually several. Eva Braun had two Scottish Terriers and Blondi had given birth to a litter of puppies in March or early April. On top of that, the bunker's dog handler, Fritz Tornow also had his own pet dog. All of these other dogs were shot.
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 Downfall / int_34dcfc96
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Kick the Dog
 Downfall / int_34dcfc96
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Kick the Dog: Blondi is forced to test Hitler's cyanide pills, to see if they worked. Eva Braun admits to kicking Blondi on occasion, because she doesn't like her, which ironically serves as a Pet the Dog moment for her as she bonds with Traudl.
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 Downfall / int_3511c4d7
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Plunder
 Downfall / int_3511c4d7
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The Red Army's seizure of Berlin is sanitized. The one instance of pillage in the movie is comical, consisting of a platoon of female Soviet soldiers going through Magda Goebbels' dresses. Constance Manziarly is merely stated to have "disappeared" after leaving the bunker, when in real life she was last seen being taken into an underground station by two Soviet soldiers and was never heard of again - it is commonly speculated that she was raped and murdered.
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 Downfall / int_373283c9
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This Cannot Be!
 Downfall / int_373283c9
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This Cannot Be!: Hitler's bombastic rant is fueled by his utter disbelief that there is no way the Germans can hold the Soviets off. Everyone else saw this coming long before he did.
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 Downfall / int_37cb353b
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Ate His Gun
 Downfall / int_37cb353b
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Ate His Gun: Many Nazis lose their will to live when faced with the end of the Nazi Reich... and the arrival of the Soviets, who cannot be expected to go easy on them after everything they've done. There are quite a few suicides using this and other means.
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 Downfall / int_38dade51
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But Not Too Evil
 Downfall / int_38dade51
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But Not Too Evil: The film gives a balanced portrayal of Hitler as a human being, capable of displaying kindness and charm when around people and things he likes, but also cruel, petty, ineffectual and genocidally paranoid. Lest you get too much Sympathy for the Devil, one scene in particular has Hitler giving a speech expressing pride in the fact that he's killed so many millions of people and hopes that all of Germany perishes for failing him.
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 Downfall / int_392372f9
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Actor Allusion
 Downfall / int_392372f9
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Actor Allusion: Oliver Stritzel plays Johannes Hentschel, the mechanic who was responsible for the power generators in the bunker. In Das Boot, he played a member of U-96's engine crew.
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 Downfall / int_396e1c2a
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Face Death with Dignity
 Downfall / int_396e1c2a
comment
Face Death with Dignity: Ernst-Robert Grawitz dresses in his Sunday uniform before joining his family and killing himself with them. Fegelein, dragged out of a woman's bed to be summarily executed by the SS, takes a moment to button up his tunic and give the Nazi salute before being shot. This is the opposite of what the Real Life Fegelein, a bastard who betrayed his brother in law (the Führer) and tried to escape with a suitcase of stolen money and jewellery, did when caught. He was shot on the spot because he was too drunk to be court-martialed.
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 Downfall / int_3bc88a7f
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Foregone Conclusion
 Downfall / int_3bc88a7f
comment
Foregone Conclusion: And they know it. Some are more willing to face reality than others, however.
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 Downfall / int_3e74b72e
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The Pollyanna
 Downfall / int_3e74b72e
comment
The Pollyanna: Eva Braun to a pathological degree. Seeming to live in total delusion, she's completely carefree as the Nazi Reich crumbles around her. Like Hitler ordering counterattacks from non-existent units, she asks people to visit stores that have been bombed out. However, in a private moment with Traudl, she admits that she realizes that there is no hope left for the Nazis, but insists that she doesn't care. She's still happy.
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 Downfall / int_3e8d9cd3
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Historical Hero Upgrade
 Downfall / int_3e8d9cd3
comment
Historical Hero Upgrade: Dr. Ernst-Günther Schenck was involved in human experimentation upon concentration camp victims and was barred from practicing medicine in postwar West Germany. (Although in fairness his experiments were on vitamins and nutrition, and were relatively cruel in comparison.) The Red Army's seizure of Berlin is sanitized. The one instance of pillage in the movie is comical, consisting of a platoon of female Soviet soldiers going through Magda Goebbels' dresses. Constance Manziarly is merely stated to have "disappeared" after leaving the bunker, when in real life she was last seen being taken into an underground station by two Soviet soldiers and was never heard of again - it is commonly speculated that she was raped and murdered. May or not be the case with Wilhelm Mohnke. There were several allegations of him being involved in the massacre of prisoners during the war, however not enough evidence was found to prosecute.
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 Downfall / int_3e99481a
type
Deadly Distant Finale
 Downfall / int_3e99481a
comment
Deadly Distant Finale: The end explains how each of the characters lived their lives after the events of the movie, and how they died, if they did die.
 Downfall / int_3e99481a
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1.0
 Downfall / int_3e99481a
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_3e99481a
 Downfall / int_40bb59d0
type
Blatant Lies
 Downfall / int_40bb59d0
comment
Blatant Lies: Right before the Red Army's assault on Berlin, we briefly see a homemade barricade on which someone had painted "Wir siegen!" (We are winning!) in big red letters. Dr. Stumpfegger says that the "medicine" will prevent the Goebbels children from getting sick in the damp bunker. One of the kids then remarks that the bunker is not damp.
 Downfall / int_40bb59d0
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1.0
 Downfall / int_40bb59d0
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_40bb59d0
 Downfall / int_40c57041
type
Manipulative Bastard
 Downfall / int_40c57041
comment
Göring sends a telegram stating that if Hitler doesn't reply soon, he will assume that the leadership in Berlin has been incapacitated and thus shall take command of the Third Reich. Hitler, prodded by Bormann and Goebbels, sees this as a naked coup and, after ranting and raving about Göring's incompetence, expels his former Number Two from the chain of command.
 Downfall / int_40c57041
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1.0
 Downfall / int_40c57041
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_40c57041
 Downfall / int_40cc0c7e
type
Bittersweet Ending
 Downfall / int_40cc0c7e
comment
Bittersweet Ending: Traudl and Peter taking a bicycle and riding off into the great unknown. Cue the "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue. This was added because the director felt the audience needed something upbeat.
 Downfall / int_40cc0c7e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_40cc0c7e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_40cc0c7e
 Downfall / int_40da7cc9
type
Urban Warfare
 Downfall / int_40da7cc9
comment
Urban Warfare: While most of the film takes place in the safety and comfort of Hitler's bunker, there are brief scenes of the German defenders fighting a losing battle for their capital in the streets and buildings.
 Downfall / int_40da7cc9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_40da7cc9
featureConfidence
1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_40da7cc9
 Downfall / int_424feb18
type
That Was Not a Dream
 Downfall / int_424feb18
comment
That Was Not a Dream: When Eva Braun is leading the party in the Reichschancellary, the sight of so many drunken revelers having a good time while the sound of gunfire and exploding ordnance emanates from a few blocks away causes Traudl to have a severe anxiety attack. When Gerda asks what's wrong, Traudl answers: "Oh God. It's all so surreal, like a dream, but I can't wake up."
 Downfall / int_424feb18
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_424feb18
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_424feb18
 Downfall / int_43a46119
type
Surrounded by Idiots
 Downfall / int_43a46119
comment
Surrounded by Idiots: Discussed by Hitler. It's half-true, in the sense that no-one is doing what he tells them, but that's because they all know it has no chance of turning the war around. So, in a sense, it's inverted - an unhinged, broken failure surrounded by sane men.
 Downfall / int_43a46119
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_43a46119
featureConfidence
1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_43a46119
 Downfall / int_474e3977
type
You Have Failed Me
 Downfall / int_474e3977
comment
You Have Failed Me: Hitler and some of his cohorts attempt to do this to an entire country.
 Downfall / int_474e3977
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_474e3977
featureConfidence
1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_474e3977
 Downfall / int_4782e60f
type
Jerk with a Heart of Jerk
 Downfall / int_4782e60f
comment
Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Should Bruno Ganz' powerful, deeply sincere performance evoke even the slightest bit of sympathy during the infamous breakdown scene, the movie quickly reminds you who you're watching moments later when he starts screaming about how the German people have betrayed him and how he hopes that his entire country drowns in their own blood for failing him.
 Downfall / int_4782e60f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_4782e60f
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_4782e60f
 Downfall / int_4783acfa
type
Bait the Dog
 Downfall / int_4783acfa
comment
Bait the Dog: Very carefully and deliberately done with Der Fuhrer himself. The clear-eyed, un-slanted depiction of his personality, combined with Bruno Ganz's brilliant performance and just enough small, sympathetic touches for him to come across like a believable human being instead of a cartoonish supervillain - before yanking back the veil to remind us why he's frequently called the most evil human who ever lived, a narcissistic, self-absorbed unsportsmanlike racist who would rather burn the entire world than see it ruled by people he considered inferior.
 Downfall / int_4783acfa
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_4783acfa
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_4783acfa
 Downfall / int_489ce93a
type
Capital Offensive
 Downfall / int_489ce93a
comment
Capital Offensive: Berlin is completely surrounded and besieged by the Red Army, with all of the nearby German armies encircled.
 Downfall / int_489ce93a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_489ce93a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_489ce93a
 Downfall / int_49f20c6a
type
Gory Discretion Shot
 Downfall / int_49f20c6a
comment
Gory Discretion Shot: Hitler himself, along with Goebbels and his wife. Two generals, too. Oddly enough, we see a random mook suddenly shoot himself, yet then the camera stayed right on him. The director states in commentary that there's a specific reason for cutting away from the suicides of Hitler, Goebbels and his wife, as well as the two generals; they didn't deserve to have their final moment immortalized in film, even if it is just a recreation.
 Downfall / int_49f20c6a
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1.0
 Downfall / int_49f20c6a
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_49f20c6a
 Downfall / int_4ab9c868
type
Pretty Little Headshots
 Downfall / int_4ab9c868
comment
Pretty Little Headshots: They're less pretty than most, but still under-done. One scene during the Contrast Montage shows a despairing teenaged officer shooting himself in the head after he fulfills a female comrade's request to be shot rather than be captured, raped, and tortured. There's zero blood which, along with the scene having no audio (Eva's narration plays over it), somehow makes it more disturbing.
 Downfall / int_4ab9c868
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1.0
 Downfall / int_4ab9c868
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_4ab9c868
 Downfall / int_5123df54
type
Dramatic Sit-Down
 Downfall / int_5123df54
comment
Dramatic Sit-Down: Hitler has a massive Villainous Breakdown in this infamous scene. He reacted like this after he was told Felix Steiner couldn't hold back the Allies (the Soviets get there first of course) with the forces he has. After his breakdown, he is permanently hunched over and he is usually the only one sitting while everyone else has to stand.
 Downfall / int_5123df54
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_5123df54
featureConfidence
1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_5123df54
 Downfall / int_5313c266
type
Bookends
 Downfall / int_5313c266
comment
Book-Ends: The movie begins and ends with excerpts from a video interview with the real-life Traudl Junge, taken a matter of months before she died in 2002 (two years before Der Untergang was released).
 Downfall / int_5313c266
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1.0
 Downfall / int_5313c266
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_5313c266
 Downfall / int_546e23f6
type
Evilutionary Biologist
 Downfall / int_546e23f6
comment
Even though you're liable to get shivers the moment you see a Nazi in a lab coat, Dr. Ernst-Günther Schenck turns out to be the most heroic character in the film, putting his concern for civilians above his orders from the SS. The real Schenck bordered on being little more than a Punch-Clock Villain, but he engaged in human experimentation (though his experiments were on nutrition and vitamins).
 Downfall / int_546e23f6
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1.0
 Downfall / int_546e23f6
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_546e23f6
 Downfall / int_556a4863
type
Virtue Is Weakness
 Downfall / int_556a4863
comment
Virtue Is Weakness: Hitler goes on a rant where he says that morality is a human flaw and compassion is a weakness.
 Downfall / int_556a4863
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_556a4863
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_556a4863
 Downfall / int_56515a39
type
Artistic License – History
 Downfall / int_56515a39
comment
Artistic License – History: As well-researched as the film is, this trope occurs enough to warrant its own page.
 Downfall / int_56515a39
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_56515a39
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_56515a39
 Downfall / int_590e1c70
type
Frontline General
 Downfall / int_590e1c70
comment
Frontline General: While Hitler and his military advisors hide in the bunker, General Helmuth Weidling and Brigadier General Wilhelm Mohnke risk their lives organizing the defense of Berlin and minimizing the civilian casualties. There's also Felix Steiner and Walther Wenck of the Army Group and 12th Army respectively, but they're only mentioned.
 Downfall / int_590e1c70
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1.0
 Downfall / int_590e1c70
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_590e1c70
 Downfall / int_5fcb9ad1
type
Time Skip
 Downfall / int_5fcb9ad1
comment
Time Skip: The film opens in November 1942 when Traudl Junge first meets Hitler. It then immediately skips forward to April 1945 as the Nazi regime is nearing total collapse.
 Downfall / int_5fcb9ad1
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1.0
 Downfall / int_5fcb9ad1
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_5fcb9ad1
 Downfall / int_60f567f1
type
Lonely Piano Piece
 Downfall / int_60f567f1
comment
Lonely Piano Piece: In The Courtyard of the Reich Chancellery by Stephan Zacharias. Part of the film's Awesome Music.
 Downfall / int_60f567f1
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1.0
 Downfall / int_60f567f1
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_60f567f1
 Downfall / int_61b576af
type
I Take Offense to That Last One
 Downfall / int_61b576af
comment
I Take Offense to That Last One!: Non-comical example. During Hitler's infamous rant, his generals are too afraid to say anything contradicting Hitler's furious rebukes against everyone. The most that Burgdorf can muster up is that he cannot permit the Fuhrer to call the troops cowards.
 Downfall / int_61b576af
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_61b576af
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_61b576af
 Downfall / int_61c683d2
type
We Have Reserves
 Downfall / int_61c683d2
comment
We Have Reserves: Subverted by Hitler, who keeps pretending that they do. It's the subject of the infamous rant. Goebbels tries to use the Volkssturm this way, but the "national militia" is actually just a pathetic, last-ditch attempt to put outdated weapons in the hands of untrained civilians, a lot of them old men and children barely in their teens, and herd them into the meatgrinder of the Soviet army on threat of execution by the SS. Their commander, General Wilhelm Mohnke, pleads with Goebbels to realize that the Volkssturm have no effect on the Soviets and simply waste German lives. Goebbels finally admits that he really doesn't care. It's their fault for following him.
 Downfall / int_61c683d2
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 Downfall / int_61c683d2
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_61c683d2
 Downfall / int_6363937b
type
Cyanide Pill
 Downfall / int_6363937b
comment
Cyanide Pill: They're handed out like candy throughout the film. Most affectingly, Frau Goebbels forces her (sedated) children to take cyanide.
 Downfall / int_6363937b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_6363937b
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_6363937b
 Downfall / int_63d861f8
type
Even Evil Has Loved Ones
 Downfall / int_63d861f8
comment
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: A good chunk of the characters are the leaders and senior members of the Nazi party; they're also people with spouses and families.
 Downfall / int_63d861f8
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1.0
 Downfall / int_63d861f8
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_63d861f8
 Downfall / int_641cf81d
type
Viewers Are Geniuses
 Downfall / int_641cf81d
comment
Viewers Are Geniuses: Some characters/moments occur without any exposition to help a viewer know what they mean. An SS doctor shows up in the bunker and begs Hitler's permission to leave, which is denied. All we learn of him is his panicky words "If the Russians find me...", and Hitler's answer that "You did nothing wrong." That's Dr. Ernst-Robert Grawitz, one of the worst of the worst of the Nazi doctors, who organized both the experimentation on human beings and the T-4 "euthanasia" program (the murder of the disabled and mentally ill).
 Downfall / int_641cf81d
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1.0
 Downfall / int_641cf81d
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_641cf81d
 Downfall / int_697b5232
type
Those Wacky Nazis
 Downfall / int_697b5232
comment
Those Wacky Nazis: As Villain Protagonists.
 Downfall / int_697b5232
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_697b5232
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_697b5232
 Downfall / int_69cce3dc
type
Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!
 Downfall / int_69cce3dc
comment
Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Speer tries to convince Traudl to leave at once. She replies that things can't be that bad; after all, Goebbels and his children are staying in the bunker. Speer gives her a knowing look, and she soon realizes that the children will not be leaving the bunker alive.
 Downfall / int_69cce3dc
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1.0
 Downfall / int_69cce3dc
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_69cce3dc
 Downfall / int_69fb91e8
type
Chewing the Scenery
 Downfall / int_69fb91e8
comment
Chewing the Scenery: Hitler goes completely apeshit when he learns that his army literally cannot stop the Soviets.
 Downfall / int_69fb91e8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_69fb91e8
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_69fb91e8
 Downfall / int_6a1a1f8a
type
Glasses Pull
 Downfall / int_6a1a1f8a
comment
Glasses Pull: A very slow and very shaky one precedes Hitler's infamous rant. The actor behind Hitler was aware of rumors that Hitler developed Parkinson's and integrated that into his performance.
 Downfall / int_6a1a1f8a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_6a1a1f8a
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_6a1a1f8a
 Downfall / int_6b510ace
type
Hopeless War
 Downfall / int_6b510ace
comment
Hopeless War: That is the situation, with Nazi Germany with its capital under direct siege with the Soviets relentlessly advancing through the city and Hitler's forces have no hope of stopping them.
 Downfall / int_6b510ace
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_6b510ace
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_6b510ace
 Downfall / int_6c6fe9c
type
Big Sleep
 Downfall / int_6c6fe9c
comment
Big Sleep: Magda Goebbels drugs her children into unconsciousness, then forces them to ingest cyanide by placing a vial in their mouths and forcing their jaws shut. The only sign of their death is a shudder. Unrealistic (even the most heavily drugged cyanide victim will usually thrash violently, if only for a few seconds) but enforced for dramatic purposes.
 Downfall / int_6c6fe9c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_6c6fe9c
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_6c6fe9c
 Downfall / int_6d332aea
type
Driven to Suicide
 Downfall / int_6d332aea
comment
Driven to Suicide: Truth in Television, as many hardcore Nazis killed themselves rather than face justice or revenge, or a world without National Socialism, or even a world where Jews, Roma and other minorities are considered anything but subhuman. Subverted in one scene where a unit filled with supposedly hardcore die-hards make a big deal about the fact that they're all either going to die fighting or kill themselves to avoid dishonour. Moments later, a messenger soberly brings the news that the German High Command has surrendered and the war is over... and only two of them actually go through with it, the others just left stunned but with no apparent intention of killing themselves.
 Downfall / int_6d332aea
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-0.3
 Downfall / int_6d332aea
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_6d332aea
 Downfall / int_7040b6bc
type
Understatement
 Downfall / int_7040b6bc
comment
Understatement: When Hitler tells Ritter von Greim that he has massed troops for a massive pincer attack, after which he promises a thousand jet aircraft for a new Air Force on short notice, Greim can only diplomatically state that he wasn't aware Germany had such reserves left.
 Downfall / int_7040b6bc
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1.0
 Downfall / int_7040b6bc
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_7040b6bc
 Downfall / int_7484b619
type
Herr Doktor
 Downfall / int_7484b619
comment
Herr Doktor: Even though you're liable to get shivers the moment you see a Nazi in a lab coat, Dr. Ernst-Günther Schenck turns out to be the most heroic character in the film, putting his concern for civilians above his orders from the SS. The real Schenck bordered on being little more than a Punch-Clock Villain, but he engaged in human experimentation (though his experiments were on nutrition and vitamins). Grawitz, the head of the German Red Cross who was simultaneously one of the leading planners of the Nazi human experimentation program (directly responsible for wounding prisoners and intentionally infecting them with gangrene to test treatments on them), appears in the film, but as opposed to a menacing hands-on surgeon, he's portrayed (much as he arguably was) as a cowardly fat bureaucrat, begging Hitler to allow him to flee Berlin rather than face justice at the hands of the Red Army. He takes the coward's way out by killing himself and his entire family with grenades while they're eating dinner.
 Downfall / int_7484b619
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1.0
 Downfall / int_7484b619
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_7484b619
 Downfall / int_74c69a97
type
Nazi Protagonist
 Downfall / int_74c69a97
comment
Nazi Protagonist: The events are told from the point of view of the Germans during the last days of the Third Reich. Hitler's secretary Traudl Junge, SS medical officer Ernst-Gunther Schenk, and Peter, a young German boy inducted into the Hitler Youth to defend Berlin, are the three main protagonists.
 Downfall / int_74c69a97
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1.0
 Downfall / int_74c69a97
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_74c69a97
 Downfall / int_75538142
type
Friend to All Children
 Downfall / int_75538142
comment
Friend to All Children: Hitler, of all people, appears as this: The Goebbels' children are obviously fond of him. At the same time, he's also sending Child Soldiers en masse to their deaths.
 Downfall / int_75538142
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_75538142
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_75538142
 Downfall / int_78c5ce7e
type
Screw the Rules, I Make Them!
 Downfall / int_78c5ce7e
comment
Screw the Rules, I Make Them! In the extended cut, after taking a walk outside, Eva asks Hitler if he will buy the figure in the Chancellery garden once they've won. Hitler responds that he has no idea who actually owns it, and if it is state property, then it cannot be in a private garden. Eva then says that, as the man who managed to defeat the Soviets in Berlin, he will be able to amend the law to however he wishes. Hitler then smiles and rolls his eyes at this "Logik der Frauen." During Hitler's wedding. This has the added real-life subtext of Hitler being unable to identify his biological grandfather due to his Tangled Family Tree, ergo he would not actually pass the Aryan test.
 Downfall / int_78c5ce7e
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1.0
 Downfall / int_78c5ce7e
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 Downfall
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Downfall / int_78c5ce7e
 Downfall / int_7c1207c1
type
Weapons Understudies
 Downfall / int_7c1207c1
comment
Weapons Understudies: Peter's Hitler Youth group man a Soviet-made 85mm M1939 (52-K) anti-air cannon. It is likely meant to represent the German 88mm Flak, but can be justified as them using captured equipment.
 Downfall / int_7c1207c1
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1.0
 Downfall / int_7c1207c1
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_7c1207c1
 Downfall / int_7fbe9a30
type
Freak Out
 Downfall / int_7fbe9a30
comment
Freak Out: The one that launched a thousand memes, when the Fuhrer learns that Felix Steiner didn't attempt to carry out his assault because he realised it would fail. You can practically feel the spittle flying.
 Downfall / int_7fbe9a30
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1.0
 Downfall / int_7fbe9a30
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_7fbe9a30
 Downfall / int_7febc23b
type
Establishing Character Moment
 Downfall / int_7febc23b
comment
His statement that he values his dog much more than many people serves as an Establishing Character Moment.
 Downfall / int_7febc23b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_7febc23b
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_7febc23b
 Downfall / int_823c6e3e
type
Large Ham
 Downfall / int_823c6e3e
comment
Large Ham: Guess who. Bruno Ganz practically uses the scenery as his own all-you-can-eat buffet.
 Downfall / int_823c6e3e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_823c6e3e
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_823c6e3e
 Downfall / int_82b48dc
type
Stupid Jetpack Hitler
 Downfall / int_82b48dc
comment
Stupid Jetpack Hitler: The Nazi Wunderwaffen are briefly mentioned, with Hitler promising Ritter von Greim a thousand jet fighters within short notice. Greim replies that he had no idea they had so many reserves available.note The Nazis really were producing a jet fighter near the end of the war, the Me-262, which could fly circles around Allied fighter planes. But by that stage they were running out of pilots and, worse, running out of jet fuel. In the uncut version, one of the bunker staff eagerly asks Keitel when Hitler is going to use those wonder weapons, including the V2 rockets. Keitel, clearly aware there are no such weapons anymore, says that all details are classified.
 Downfall / int_82b48dc
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1.0
 Downfall / int_82b48dc
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_82b48dc
 Downfall / int_83a903f6
type
Stepford Smiler
 Downfall / int_83a903f6
comment
Stepford Smiler: Eva continues smiling even when things are at their bleakest. It might be a bit of a subversion in that she insists that she really is happy, in spite of it all, with no regrets and unafraid to die. She was, after all, dying as Mrs. Hitler after being hidden away from public view for years. The party scene in the Reich Chancellery just above the bunker, where there's a palpable sense of dread and forced merriment, with people forcing smiles and continuing to dance and trying to act happy as the shelling gets louder and louder.
 Downfall / int_83a903f6
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1.0
 Downfall / int_83a903f6
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 Downfall
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Downfall / int_83a903f6
 Downfall / int_83c9369b
type
Simple Score of Sadness
 Downfall / int_83c9369b
comment
Simple Score of Sadness: The entire music score is all done in a somber tone to remind the audience that from the German perspective, there was no joy or celebration in Hitler's downfall.
 Downfall / int_83c9369b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_83c9369b
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_83c9369b
 Downfall / int_863fa679
type
What Happened to the Mouse?
 Downfall / int_863fa679
comment
What Happened to the Mouse?: General Karl Koller is present at Hitler's birthday reception and at the following strategy conference, but disappears when Mohnke arrives. In a filmed but unused scene, Hitler orders him to organize fighter defense for Northern Germany and he leaves. In reality, upon hearing that Hitler said Göring would be better suited for peace negotiations, Koller left to inform Göring personally, leading to the telegram he sends later.
 Downfall / int_863fa679
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Downfall / int_863fa679
 Downfall / int_875615dd
type
Truth in Television
 Downfall / int_875615dd
comment
This is truth in fiction, of course, but Hitler's generals are such "yes men" they will never disobey him (Wilhelm Keitel's nickname was "Lakeitel", a pun on the German word for lackey). At best, some implore him to see reason, but refuse to outright turn on him. The most any of them ever does is when (the unseen) Felix Steiner refuses to launch a counterattack against surrounding Soviets... only because Hitler insists he attack using imaginary units, and his remaining forces are (despite Hitler's crazed claims) in reality outnumbered ten to one.
 Downfall / int_875615dd
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Downfall / int_875615dd
 Downfall / int_898ff050
type
Villain Protagonist
 Downfall / int_898ff050
comment
Villain Protagonist: It's a film centered on the last ten days of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi inner hierarchy. Technically, almost every character in the film is either a Nazi or supporter of their regime. Some of the characters are treated sympathetically, such as Hitler's secretaries, Albert Speer, Dr. Schenck, General Mohnke, and General Weidling. This is largely because their remaining capacity for rational thought and human emotion stands in stark contrast to how far off the deep end Hitler went. Mohnke and Weidling are the only generals that outright express concern to Hitler about the fate of the German civilians in Berlin. Mohnke is on the front lines alongside his troops, pointing out to Goebbels that the "Volkssturm" conscripts are being slaughtered. Weidling outright pleads with Hitler to abandon Berlin. After most of the other Nazi leaders commit suicide or flee, more or less on his own initiative Weidling crosses the lines to unconditionally surrender Berlin to the Soviets, rather than let the pointless fighting continue.
 Downfall / int_898ff050
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Downfall / int_898ff050
 Downfall / int_8ec0abf
type
The Voiceless
 Downfall / int_8ec0abf
comment
The Voiceless: Rochus Misch. Heinrich Schmeidler delivers an impressive performance despite having no dialogue beyond an incredulous "Marshal Zhukov!?" late in the film. He gets a couple more lines in the extended cut.
 Downfall / int_8ec0abf
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 Downfall / int_8ec0abf
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Downfall / int_8ec0abf
 Downfall / int_90e31482
type
Laser-Guided Karma
 Downfall / int_90e31482
comment
Laser-Guided Karma: Hitler is dining and elaborates about being The Social Darwinist, how compassion is an evil sin, to feel empathy for the weak is treason to nature, and how Hitler had always chosen the most reasonable path: to destroy the weak inside and outside Germany. Just then, he gets a report about Himmler surrendering to the allies. Himmler just went Screw This, I'm Outta Here! and, reasonably, is abandoning the weak (Hitler) to join the strong. Of course Hitler fails to see the irony and begins yet another Villainous Breakdown.
 Downfall / int_90e31482
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 Downfall / int_90e31482
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Downfall / int_90e31482
 Downfall / int_957e5fc2
type
Villainous Breakdown
 Downfall / int_957e5fc2
comment
Villainous Breakdown: Pretty much Villainous Breakdown: The Movie. It's basically a feature-length study of the Nazi leadership's collective breakdown when faced with the hard reality of their upcoming total loss. The infamous scene that birthed the Hitler Rants internet meme. By all accounts, the staging in the film is quite accurate. Hitler really did freak out upon hearing that neither Wenck nor Steiner would attack, and he really did have a screaming wild-eyed breakdown in which he said that the war was over and he should have had all his generals shot. At one point, Burgdorf also has a screaming fit, refusing to consider the possibility of surrender because he remembers the shame and humiliation of the German surrender at the end of World War I. It's a sobering reminder of just how much suffering and misery was caused by what can be essentially chalked up as wounded pride and arrogance gone mad.
 Downfall / int_957e5fc2
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Downfall / int_957e5fc2
 Downfall / int_9591377d
type
Heel Realization
 Downfall / int_9591377d
comment
Heel Realization: In the real Traudl Junge's interview at the end of the film, she confesses that she had this moment when she finally learned that the great German resistance heroine, Sophie Scholl, was younger than herself and she knew what was going on in the Third Reich and had the conscience and backbone to do something while Junge did nothing.
 Downfall / int_9591377d
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 Downfall / int_9591377d
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Downfall / int_9591377d
 Downfall / int_95b7c400
type
Faux Affably Evil
 Downfall / int_95b7c400
comment
Faux Affably Evil: In the film, Hitler is polite and affectionate to those who remain with him in the Führerbunker as well as those who continue to fight for his doomed ambitions. However, as the film progresses, it increasingly becomes apparent that his demeanor is a carefully calculated ruse designed to seduce his subordinates into joining him in death out of guilt and/or a tragically misplaced sense of loyalty. It did backfire somewhat as some Moral Guardians did criticise the film for depicting Hitler as "too sympathetic".
 Downfall / int_95b7c400
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 Downfall / int_95b7c400
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Downfall / int_95b7c400
 Downfall / int_973d220f
type
Never My Fault
 Downfall / int_973d220f
comment
Never My Fault: As it becomes more and more obvious Germany is about to lose the war, Hitler blames just about everyone for it: first his generals, then the SS, then his inner circle, until finally he declares the entire German people lost because they were weak and deserved it. He never, ever blames himself. During his most famous rant, he claims that he personally conquered all of Europe, yet all his generals keep failing and betraying him. In short, he takes sole credit for all of Nazi Germany's successes, and blames all its failures on everyone but him.
 Downfall / int_973d220f
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 Downfall / int_973d220f
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Downfall / int_973d220f
 Downfall / int_9751f6eb
type
Tanks, but No Tanks
 Downfall / int_9751f6eb
comment
Tanks, but No Tanks: Despite the generally high levels of historical accuracy in uniforms and equipment, there is a scene that includes one very poor mock-up of a Tiger tank, which is quite jarring. Averted in the use of actual T-34/85s by the Soviets.
 Downfall / int_9751f6eb
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 Downfall / int_9751f6eb
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Downfall / int_9751f6eb
 Downfall / int_980647af
type
Visible Boom Mic
 Downfall / int_980647af
comment
Visible Boom Mic: The shadow of one can be seen in one instance during the 'Hitler rant' scene.
 Downfall / int_980647af
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 Downfall / int_980647af
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Downfall / int_980647af
 Downfall / int_99298c71
type
Better to Die than Be Killed
 Downfall / int_99298c71
comment
Better to Die than Be Killed: One recurring question for the cast is how they plan to deal with the Reich's downfall: will they choose to flee, be taken prisoner by the Soviets, or will they commit suicide to save face and avoid imprisonment or trial and execution?
 Downfall / int_99298c71
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 Downfall / int_99298c71
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Downfall / int_99298c71
 Downfall / int_9a061e64
type
Dishonored Dead
 Downfall / int_9a061e64
comment
Dishonored Dead: Well, not on purpose, but it's not exactly very dignified - Hitler and Braun's bodies are shoved in sacks, tossed in an unmarked ditch, and burned in a "memorial" ceremony that barely lasts five seconds before it's interrupted by Red Army artillery fire and Goebbels and a couple of random Nazi goons hastily return to the bunker.
 Downfall / int_9a061e64
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Downfall / int_9a061e64
 Downfall / int_9bfb2f41
type
Dead Guy on Display
 Downfall / int_9bfb2f41
comment
Dead Guy on Display: Roving execution squads are going around hanging anyone found guilty of desertion (a lot of people, as what was left of the Heer and Volkssturm was falling apart) and leaving the bodies up, with placards of warning hung from the bodies. ("I supported the Bolsheviks.")
 Downfall / int_9bfb2f41
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Downfall / int_9bfb2f41
 Downfall / int_9dfb8296
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This Is Gonna Suck
 Downfall / int_9dfb8296
comment
This Is Gonna Suck: Hitler's inner staff share looks of concern and dread right before they're forced to tell him about Steiner's inability to counterattack. They share further looks of dread as everyone else, on Hitler's orders, evacuates the room. Hitler then launches into his longest, most vitriolic rant of the entire film. The look on Heinz Linge's (Hitler's valet) face when he approaches with a report indicating that Himmler has attempted to surrender. It's clear he's read the report and knows it will send Hitler into another rage.
 Downfall / int_9dfb8296
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Downfall / int_9dfb8296
 Downfall / int_9e5d1558
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GallowsHumour
 Downfall / int_9e5d1558
comment
Gallows Humour: Knowing that all hope is lost as the Soviet army's artillery steadily reduces Berlin to rubble, the German generals tell each other jokes such as "Have you heard? Berlin's a city of warehouses. Where's my house, where's my house?"note In German "department store" (Warenhaus) and "was a house" (war 'n Haus) sound the same. The original joke was something like "Berlin's a city of department stores. Here was a house, there was a house." ("Berlin ist jetzt die Stadt der Warenhäuser: hier war 'n Haus, da war 'n Haus...")
 Downfall / int_9e5d1558
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 Downfall / int_9e5d1558
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Downfall / int_9e5d1558
 Downfall / int_9f4bec33
type
Destroy the Evidence
 Downfall / int_9f4bec33
comment
Destroy the Evidence: Schenck is introduced as SS personnel are throwing out and destroying all documents. During Eva and Frau Goebbels' letter montage, Hitler makes his last trip to the surface to watch Linge and Günsche burning documents by the folder.
 Downfall / int_9f4bec33
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 Downfall / int_9f4bec33
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Downfall / int_9f4bec33
 Downfall / int_9f62723d
type
Get Out!
 Downfall / int_9f62723d
comment
Get Out!: When informed that Steiner's reinforcements aren't coming, Hitler quietly tells everyone but a select few people to leave. As if realising what's about to happen, they leave very quickly - and the instant the door closes behind them, Hitler explodes.
 Downfall / int_9f62723d
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 Downfall / int_9f62723d
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Downfall / int_9f62723d
 Downfall / int_a01f88a7
type
General Failure
 Downfall / int_a01f88a7
comment
General Failure: Hitler attempts to micro-manage his troops to increasingly greater degrees, revoking control from his far more capable (and sane) commanders for perceived failures. In the war room scene prior to his infamous breakdown, he shows a very weak grasp of tactics by declaring that battalions and divisions on the verge of being overrun will hold their ground no matter what and grossly overestimating the fighting capacity of groups that exist only on his map. Even the other members of his inner circle give each other nervous looks as he makes these costly decisions. After the last offensive ordered by his generals, Unternehmen Zitadelle/The Battle of Kursk of July 1943, failed and led to a spectacular reversal which cost them the Ukraine and all the (experienced) panzer forces, this became Truth in Television for the remainder of the war.
 Downfall / int_a01f88a7
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Downfall / int_a01f88a7
 Downfall / int_a2b998a0
type
Wouldn't Hurt a Child
 Downfall / int_a2b998a0
comment
Wouldn't Hurt a Child: In the extended cut, Peter takes his deceased teenage commander's pistol and hides as the Soviet troops storm in. After leaving his hiding place, he is found by a Soviet soldier who then says in Russian, "I won't fight a child". He is then shot and left for dead by Peter, who is quickly horrified by what he did.
 Downfall / int_a2b998a0
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Downfall / int_a2b998a0
 Downfall / int_a2ff4e6f
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Single Tear
 Downfall / int_a2ff4e6f
comment
Single Tear: Hitler cries one when his close friend, Albert Speer, reveals that he has not always been loyal to him and has at times disobeyed his orders. You get the sense that he has realised that he has no friends left.
 Downfall / int_a2ff4e6f
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Downfall / int_a2ff4e6f
 Downfall / int_a39d6056
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Nice to the Waiter
 Downfall / int_a39d6056
comment
The opening scene where Hitler plays the friendly uncle whilst interviewing a nervous group of women for a new secretary. At one point, he literally pets his dog, Blondi, before testing Traudl's abilities as a secretary.
 Downfall / int_a39d6056
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Downfall / int_a39d6056
 Downfall / int_a679184b
type
Due to the Dead
 Downfall / int_a679184b
comment
Due to the Dead: Subverted with Der Fuhrer himself. Once he and Eva Braun kill themselves, the bodies are hastily bundled up in burlap sacks, dragged out of the bunker, thrown in a ditch, doused in petrol and set on fire, while the "mourners" are too busy dodging Red Army artillery fire to actually pay their respects. In the ultimate insult to injury, the solemn Nazi salute that Goebbels leads lasts for about five seconds before it's interrupted by shells and they all scramble back inside the bunker.
 Downfall / int_a679184b
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Downfall / int_a679184b
 Downfall / int_a8559a9f
type
RealLife
 Downfall / int_a8559a9f
comment
Fegelein, dragged out of a woman's bed to be summarily executed by the SS, takes a moment to button up his tunic and give the Nazi salute before being shot. This is the opposite of what the Real Life Fegelein, a bastard who betrayed his brother in law (the Führer) and tried to escape with a suitcase of stolen money and jewellery, did when caught. He was shot on the spot because he was too drunk to be court-martialed.
 Downfall / int_a8559a9f
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Downfall / int_a8559a9f
 Downfall / int_a8f905e3
type
While Rome Burns
 Downfall / int_a8f905e3
comment
While Rome Burns: There are a few desperate attempts to have fun, at Eva's insistence - for example, when everyone is forcing themselves to act happy and dance with the shelling in the background. Finally it gets so loud and so close, that they can't even fake it anymore and are clearly terrified. At this point, Eva jumps up on a table and starts dancing going "C’mon, play the music, I want to dance!" And then a shell hits directly outside the ballroom, filling the room with cloud of dust and sending everyone scurrying back into the bunker in a panic as the lights flicker.
 Downfall / int_a8f905e3
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Downfall / int_a8f905e3
 Downfall / int_ac09dc0f
type
Alas, Poor Villain
 Downfall / int_ac09dc0f
comment
Alas, Poor Villain: Astonishingly enough, while not downplaying or ignoring a single one of his crimes, the film - with the assistance of Bruno Ganz' incredible performance - manages to make Hitler himself, the ultimate symbol of human evil in Western civilization, into an oddly pitiable if not sympathetic figure, as the sheer folly and cruelty of his worldview crashes down around him. This was highlighted by many critics and reviewers, several of whom questioned whether it was even morally acceptable to make a movie that depicted him in such a light.
 Downfall / int_ac09dc0f
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Downfall / int_ac09dc0f
 Downfall / int_ad1db87c
type
Oh, Crap!
 Downfall / int_ad1db87c
comment
Oh, Crap!: The reaction of the German officers when they learn Hitler has committed suicide. The look on Jodl, Keitel, Krebs, and Burgdorf's faces after Hitler is told Steiner couldn't get enough men, and Hitler excuses everyone but them. This comes before the iconic rant.
 Downfall / int_ad1db87c
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Downfall / int_ad1db87c
 Downfall / int_ad786c6b
type
Hookers and Blow
 Downfall / int_ad786c6b
comment
Hookers and Blow: When Fegelein is tracked down, he's found in a room, above an abandoned building used for a wild party by soldiers and civilians, with a nude woman, booze bottles, and several lines of cocaine on a nearby dresser.
 Downfall / int_ad786c6b
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Downfall / int_ad786c6b
 Downfall / int_b1346878
type
Fate Worse than Death
 Downfall / int_b1346878
comment
Fate Worse than Death: General Helmuth Weidling got a pint of this: Hitler orders his execution on the assumption that he moved his command post to the west. After his attempt to solve the misunderstanding, Hitler was impressed and appointed him as commander of the defense of Berlin. In one scene, the young blonde female soldier begs the young German officer to kill her as their position is being overrun.
 Downfall / int_b1346878
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Downfall / int_b1346878
 Downfall / int_b7248073
type
My Country, Right or Wrong
 Downfall / int_b7248073
comment
Magda Goebbels kills her own children because of a political ideology. The film's portrayal differs from Real Life; a Soviet autopsy performed on Helga's body showed numerous large black and blue bruises, indicating that she may have woken up and struggled with her killer.
 Downfall / int_b7248073
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Downfall / int_b7248073
 Downfall / int_b77808f2
type
"Where Are They Now?" Epilogue
 Downfall / int_b77808f2
comment
"Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The ultimate fates of the people we weren't shown are detailed at the very end. Christian escapes all forms of capture and dies in 1997. Dr. Schenck is released from captivity by the Soviets in 1953, and dies in 1998. Monkhe is also released from Soviet captivity in 1955, and dies in 2001. Welding dies in captivity in 1955. Haase is arrested in the bunker by the Soviets and dies in 1950 (the movie incorrectly claims he dies in 1945.) Günsche is also arrested by the Soviets. He is released in 1956 and dies in 2003. Reitsch survives the war and goes on to break many records in aviation. She dies in 1979. Ritter von Greim commits suicide on May 24, 1945. Linge and Hentschel are also arrested by the Soviets. Linge is released in 1955 and dies in 1980, while Hentschel is released in 1949 and dies in 1982. Manzairly escapes all capture and is never seen or heard from again. Speer is arrested in Flensburg after Germany surrenders. At the Nuremberg trials, he is sentenced to 20 years in prison. He is released in 1966 and dies in 1981. Keitel and Jodl are both sentenced to death at the Nuremberg trials and executed. Göring is also sentenced to death at the Nuremberg trials. He commits suicide with a cyanide pill shortly before he is to be executed. Himmler attempts to escape from Germany using a false name, but is caught by former Soviet prisoners of war and commits suicide with a cyanide pill. Bormann and Stumpfegger commit suicide after Germany surrenders. Misch is released from Soviet captivity in 1955. The film claims he still lives in Berlin, but he dies in 2013. Junge continues to work as a secretary, but dies in 2003, shortly before the film is released.
 Downfall / int_b77808f2
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Downfall / int_b77808f2
 Downfall / int_b8e3f20a
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Demoted to Extra
 Downfall / int_b8e3f20a
comment
Demoted to Extra: Goering, despite being a major historical figure, does not factor into the events portrayed, so he's reduced to a single, non-speaking appearance and a telegram. Truth in Television, since Goering left Berlin for good after Hitler's last birthday party.
 Downfall / int_b8e3f20a
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Downfall / int_b8e3f20a
 Downfall / int_ba2f9dfe
type
The Paranoiac
 Downfall / int_ba2f9dfe
comment
The Paranoiac: Refusing to accept that defeat was his fault, Hitler starts seeing Starscreams all around him. He removes Göring out of the chain of command believing in Bormann and Goebbels' lies that he's planning a coup, and he's convinced that Himmler, chief architect of the Final Solution, is an agent of a Jewish conspiracy against him.
 Downfall / int_ba2f9dfe
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Downfall / int_ba2f9dfe
 Downfall / int_bac9f95d
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Sweet Tooth
 Downfall / int_bac9f95d
comment
Sweet Tooth: In the extended cut, Eva Braun is preparing a chocolate cake for Hitler's birthday. Constanze Manziarly then laments what she's doing because cake is all Hitler will eat these days.
 Downfall / int_bac9f95d
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 Downfall / int_bac9f95d
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Downfall / int_bac9f95d
 Downfall / int_bb18a227
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It's All About Me
 Downfall / int_bb18a227
comment
It's All About Me: Guess who feels this way in response to the impending Soviet invasion? Go on, guess.
 Downfall / int_bb18a227
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 Downfall / int_bb18a227
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Downfall / int_bb18a227
 Downfall / int_bb49a7a
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I've Come Too Far
 Downfall / int_bb49a7a
comment
I've Come Too Far: Spoken by Hitler himself during the infamous rant.
 Downfall / int_bb49a7a
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 Downfall / int_bb49a7a
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Downfall / int_bb49a7a
 Downfall / int_be192f18
type
Yes-Man
 Downfall / int_be192f18
comment
Yes-Man: This is truth in fiction, of course, but Hitler's generals are such "yes men" they will never disobey him (Wilhelm Keitel's nickname was "Lakeitel", a pun on the German word for lackey). At best, some implore him to see reason, but refuse to outright turn on him. The most any of them ever does is when (the unseen) Felix Steiner refuses to launch a counterattack against surrounding Soviets... only because Hitler insists he attack using imaginary units, and his remaining forces are (despite Hitler's crazed claims) in reality outnumbered ten to one. In contrast to regular generals, SS members like Himmler and Fegelein know all too well that the war is lost and are secretly planning to negotiate with the Allies; not that they were more heroic, but they were smart enough to realize when to give up on a lost cause. Fegelein even criticizes the regular generals (Wilhelm Keitel, Alfred Jodl, Hans Krebs and Wilhelm Burgdorf) for continuing to go along with Hitler when they privately admit the war is lost. Himmler and Fegelein pay lip service to Hitler while in the same room, but they're simply buying time for their escape. Even Joseph Goebbels — Yes Man among Hitler's Yes Men — has his fair share of private admissions of defeat, even as he seems to honestly believe everything Hitler says, knowing all too well that, as Hitler's right-hand man, getting out of Berlin alive is nigh-impossible. Subverted with Albert Speer, one of the few people who tries to convince Hitler that the war is truly lost, even pointing out that most of his generals already think the same, even as they are too spineless to ever say it to his face.
 Downfall / int_be192f18
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Downfall / int_be192f18
 Downfall / int_beeccbf4
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Windmill Political
 Downfall / int_beeccbf4
comment
Windmill Political: The film is one of many works that take this view on the then-widely-believed fear of a global Jewish conspiracy; it was ultimately a total crackpot hoax and delusion, but Hitler and his followers honestly believed it—making them Windmill Crusaders.
 Downfall / int_beeccbf4
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Downfall / int_beeccbf4
 Downfall / int_bf609406
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New Meat
 Downfall / int_bf609406
comment
New Meat: Most of the Volkssturm are barely shown how to fire their weapons before being sent straight into the front lines. It's not pretty.
 Downfall / int_bf609406
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 Downfall / int_bf609406
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Downfall / int_bf609406
 Downfall / int_bf74d357
type
Ugly Guy, Hot Wife
 Downfall / int_bf74d357
comment
Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Both Hitler and Goebbels, in every sense of the word "ugly". Truth in Television for both of them.
 Downfall / int_bf74d357
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 Downfall / int_bf74d357
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Downfall / int_bf74d357
 Downfall / int_c3ae004a
type
Re-Cut
 Downfall / int_c3ae004a
comment
Re-Cut: An extended version aired on German television, which includes 23 minutes of extra footage. This includes an alternate version of the first briefing, additional scenes with the Goebbels children, and Mohnke giving a speech prior to the attempted breakout. So far, this version is only available in Germany without English subtitles.
 Downfall / int_c3ae004a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_c3ae004a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Downfall
hasFeature
Downfall / int_c3ae004a
 Downfall / int_c5f0119c
type
Insane Troll Logic
 Downfall / int_c5f0119c
comment
Insane Troll Logic: Hitler's level of delusion varies from scene to scene, but in general he'll resort to blaming anyone and anything he can for the mess they're in, basically claiming it's they who failed him by following the orders he gave.
 Downfall / int_c5f0119c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_c5f0119c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Downfall
hasFeature
Downfall / int_c5f0119c
 Downfall / int_c7c7d2dd
type
Photoflood Lighting
 Downfall / int_c7c7d2dd
comment
Photoflood Lighting: The Fuhrerbunker is lit entirely with photo floods.
 Downfall / int_c7c7d2dd
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_c7c7d2dd
featureConfidence
1.0
 Downfall
hasFeature
Downfall / int_c7c7d2dd
 Downfall / int_c94f1109
type
Artistic License – Chemistry
 Downfall / int_c94f1109
comment
Artistic License – Chemistry: Near the end of the film Magda Goebbels drugs her children and then poisons them with cyanide capsules, which are shown to have a very quick effect; the children whimper and go limp practically a second after the capsule is cracked. In reality, death by cyanide - or really any poison administered orally - takes rather longer than a second or two, and as mentioned below, the children would have thrashed around before dying.note This is most likely to avoid the fact that, even when the Death of a Child is depicted, watching a young child's agonized death throes would probably be too much for an audience to bear - as well as the fact that obtaining a convincing performance of painful, drawn-out death from a child actor would run the risk of falling into serious Narm.
 Downfall / int_c94f1109
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_c94f1109
featureConfidence
1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_c94f1109
 Downfall / int_c9c756a8
type
Child Soldiers
 Downfall / int_c9c756a8
comment
Child Soldiers: The Germans are so short of troops that they're using children. One particular scene has Hitler inspecting a line of kids and giving them medals. This scene is a recreation of well-known newsreel footage of Hitler doing just that on his birthday on the 20th of April 1945.
 Downfall / int_c9c756a8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_c9c756a8
featureConfidence
1.0
 Downfall
hasFeature
Downfall / int_c9c756a8
 Downfall / int_caf89e54
type
Taking You with Me
 Downfall / int_caf89e54
comment
Taking You with Me: Hitler's final plan basically amounted to scorched earth, destroying Germany's infrastructure and abandoning its people to the caprices of the Red Army. He felt they "failed him".
 Downfall / int_caf89e54
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_caf89e54
featureConfidence
1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_caf89e54
 Downfall / int_cfa546f4
type
Mother Russia Makes You Strong
 Downfall / int_cfa546f4
comment
Mother Russia Makes You Strong: At the end, Hitler believes this, explaining in his Last Testament that a Soviet victory means that they are a more deserving race than the German one and their strong leader will complete world conquest after destroying the "decadent democracies of the west." It's somewhat at odds with the accepted wisdom of the time that one of the USSR's greatest threats was its status as a highly mixed "mongrel race", and the common sense that there wasn't actually a Soviet race in the first place (presumably he meant the Slavs?).
 Downfall / int_cfa546f4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_cfa546f4
featureConfidence
1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_cfa546f4
 Downfall / int_d080f396
type
The Napoleon
 Downfall / int_d080f396
comment
The Napoleon: Hitler, especially when he's next to his towering adjutant Günsche (played by 198cm/6'6" Gotz Otto). It doesn't help that Hitler is permanently hunched over as a result of his Villainous Breakdown, and that often he's the only one sitting down while everyone else has to stand.
 Downfall / int_d080f396
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_d080f396
featureConfidence
1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_d080f396
 Downfall / int_d1ebedfb
type
Armchair Military
 Downfall / int_d1ebedfb
comment
Armchair Military: Hitler, whose isolation in the bunker and the presence of many yes men enables him to entertain the delusion that his intellect and willpower can save Germany from the brink of defeat. When discussing his plans he has totally unrealistic notions of what his units in the field are still capable of. In the extended cut, a Nazi brownshirt berates Peter's father for not joining the fight for Berlin. One of the hardened veterans takes a look at the brownshirt, laughs at him for not following his own beliefs, and forcibly takes him outside to join the battle.
 Downfall / int_d1ebedfb
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_d1ebedfb
featureConfidence
1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_d1ebedfb
 Downfall / int_d1fc4a16
type
Please Spare Him, My Liege!
 Downfall / int_d1fc4a16
comment
Please Spare Him, My Liege!: Eva Braun begs Hitler to spare her brother-in-law Fegelein after he's ordered to be executed for treason.
 Downfall / int_d1fc4a16
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_d1fc4a16
featureConfidence
1.0
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Downfall / int_d1fc4a16
 Downfall / int_d3a4af1e
type
Sympathy for the Devil
 Downfall / int_d3a4af1e
comment
Sympathy for the Devil: It's often easy to sympathize with Hitler as a human being, watching him almost literally break apart from the enormity of his failure, but then you get scenes where he reminds the audience what a cold-blooded, paranoid mass-murderer he is.
 Downfall / int_d3a4af1e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_d3a4af1e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_d3a4af1e
 Downfall / int_d45c0b86
type
Refuge in Audacity
 Downfall / int_d45c0b86
comment
Refuge in Audacity: Many Nazis, including Hitler, believe the party line that Germany is just one good counterattack away from turning the tide and winning the war. Nazi propaganda was built around the concept of the "Big Lie", that people would be suspicious of small promises and lies, but would more easily believe huge, sweeping lies. Additionally, if it weren't a historical memoir, half the stuff that happens wouldn't be believable. Hitler gets married to Eva Braun in his bunker, while Berlin is being shelled, civilians are starving and dying, he's swinging between losing his mind and fanatical delusion that he'll be saved, and everything is falling apart. The priest then asks Hitler one of the questions that led to this total madness: "Are you of pure Aryan descent?"
 Downfall / int_d45c0b86
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1.0
 Downfall / int_d45c0b86
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1.0
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Downfall / int_d45c0b86
 Downfall / int_d52d28b6
type
Hypocrite
 Downfall / int_d52d28b6
comment
Hypocrite: Averted - Hitler's Master Race Social Darwinism wins out over his German nationalism in the end, as he concludes that not only are the Russians superior to the Germans, but that the Russians will ultimately prevail in the inevitable conflict between them and the Western democracies.
 Downfall / int_d52d28b6
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-1.0
 Downfall / int_d52d28b6
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_d52d28b6
 Downfall / int_d6a33187
type
We Didn't Start the Führer
 Downfall / int_d6a33187
comment
We Didn't Start the Führer: A meta example of an aversion was invoked by the director, in response to some of the film's detractors: as he said, if Germans continue to treat Hitler like some kind of demon or evil alien, then they are just never going to learn anything from history, as awful a chapter as it was.
 Downfall / int_d6a33187
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-1.0
 Downfall / int_d6a33187
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_d6a33187
 Downfall / int_d9cf40fa
type
Screw This, I'm Outta Here
 Downfall / int_d9cf40fa
comment
Screw This, I'm Outta Here!: Fegelein, Speer, Himmler, among others.
 Downfall / int_d9cf40fa
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_d9cf40fa
featureConfidence
1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_d9cf40fa
 Downfall / int_dae815bb
type
A Glass in the Hand
 Downfall / int_dae815bb
comment
A Glass in the Hand: When Speer confesses to Hitler that he has on numerous occasions ignored or even acted contrary to his orders, Hitler snaps a pencil in half in his hand to avoid yet another outburst of rage. It's one of the few instances in the film where a reveal of disloyalty does not result in Hitler bursting into a near-incoherent rage filled rant, instead producing a Single Tear.
 Downfall / int_dae815bb
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1.0
 Downfall / int_dae815bb
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_dae815bb
 Downfall / int_dd082289
type
A Million Is a Statistic
 Downfall / int_dd082289
comment
A Million Is a Statistic: Averted. While the child Peter represents a lot of youths caught up in the nightmare, a lot of civilians, conscripted Volkssturm, and soldiers are shown throughout the film being blown to pieces or otherwise suffering.
 Downfall / int_dd082289
featureApplicability
-1.0
 Downfall / int_dd082289
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_dd082289
 Downfall / int_dda99fa8
type
Despair Event Horizon
 Downfall / int_dda99fa8
comment
Despair Event Horizon: The film is basically one long chain of these. Watching how individual people deal with their inevitable, total, and deserved (or undeserved) defeats is a major theme. Every major character has at least one scene where they finally break. Hitler has about half a dozen. Hitler's biggest one is most likely when he receives news that Himmler is attempting to negotiate a surrender of Germany. Hitler, who always believed Himmler to be his most loyal follower, regarded this as the ultimate form of betrayal. While previously he would see-saw between fits of rage and moments of delusional optimism, Himmler's betrayal marks the final point when he begins actively planning to commit suicide.
 Downfall / int_dda99fa8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_dda99fa8
featureConfidence
1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_dda99fa8
 Downfall / int_de15a322
type
Tangled Family Tree
 Downfall / int_de15a322
comment
This has the added real-life subtext of Hitler being unable to identify his biological grandfather due to his Tangled Family Tree, ergo he would not actually pass the Aryan test.
 Downfall / int_de15a322
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_de15a322
featureConfidence
1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_de15a322
 Downfall / int_e0113647
type
Decon-Recon Switch
 Downfall / int_e0113647
comment
Decon-Recon Switch: Essentially, to the typical cultural depiction of Hitler on film as an almost mythic figure of pure evil - first it shows us a Hitler who loves his family and is beloved by his people, before reminding us that just because he was a real person with sympathetic traits didn't make his genocidal views any less evil, and that he was ultimately a cowardly, incompetent, egotistical, and selfish racist who got not only the "undesirables" but millions of his own people killed because he's too proud and too unhinged to realize his goals were impossible in the first place.
 Downfall / int_e0113647
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_e0113647
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_e0113647
 Downfall / int_e13156e1
type
Mama Bear
 Downfall / int_e13156e1
comment
Mama Bear/Papa Wolf: Subverted. Many parents in this film kill themselves and their own children.
 Downfall / int_e13156e1
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-0.3
 Downfall / int_e13156e1
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_e13156e1
 Downfall / int_e16cd24e
type
Know When to Fold 'Em
 Downfall / int_e16cd24e
comment
In contrast to regular generals, SS members like Himmler and Fegelein know all too well that the war is lost and are secretly planning to negotiate with the Allies; not that they were more heroic, but they were smart enough to realize when to give up on a lost cause. Fegelein even criticizes the regular generals (Wilhelm Keitel, Alfred Jodl, Hans Krebs and Wilhelm Burgdorf) for continuing to go along with Hitler when they privately admit the war is lost. Himmler and Fegelein pay lip service to Hitler while in the same room, but they're simply buying time for their escape.
 Downfall / int_e16cd24e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_e16cd24e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_e16cd24e
 Downfall / int_e3277b30
type
Contrast Montage
 Downfall / int_e3277b30
comment
One scene during the Contrast Montage shows a despairing teenaged officer shooting himself in the head after he fulfills a female comrade's request to be shot rather than be captured, raped, and tortured. There's zero blood which, along with the scene having no audio (Eva's narration plays over it), somehow makes it more disturbing.
 Downfall / int_e3277b30
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_e3277b30
featureConfidence
1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_e3277b30
 Downfall / int_e3847ee8
type
Cigarette of Anxiety
 Downfall / int_e3847ee8
comment
Cigarette of Anxiety: Anyone who isn’t drinking is actually smoking (sometimes both). Once Hitler's suicide is announced, every soldier in the bunker immediately lights up a cigarette. Truth in Television, as Hitler ran very aggressive anti-smoking campaigns in Germany (German doctors were among the first to find a link between smoking and lung cancer), and after he killed himself, everyone in the bunker felt it was safe enough to finally smoke.
 Downfall / int_e3847ee8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_e3847ee8
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_e3847ee8
 Downfall / int_e5fd8bc2
type
Hate Sink
 Downfall / int_e5fd8bc2
comment
Hate Sink: While Adolf Hitler himself is portrayed as a pitiful shell of a man, Reich Minister of Propaganda Jospeh Goebbels embodies all of Hitler's evil with none of his delusional madness. A fanatical Nazi loyalist, Goebbels encourages Hitler's worst impulses and attacks anyone who dares question their Führer. He knowingly sends civilians to die in a futile attempt to stop the Soviets, and then admits he doesn't care because he blames them for losing the war (by following the Nazis in the first place). And rather than accept surrender, Goebbels and his wife Magda murder their children before killing themselves in one of the darkest scenes of the film.
 Downfall / int_e5fd8bc2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_e5fd8bc2
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_e5fd8bc2
 Downfall / int_e9f517e1
type
Artistic License – Geography
 Downfall / int_e9f517e1
comment
Artistic License – Geography: Before the infamous Hitler Rant, Krebs announces that the enemy has advanced to the East as far as the line Lichtenberg-Mahlsdorf-Karlshorst. Lichtenberg is between Mahlsdorf and Karlshorst.
 Downfall / int_e9f517e1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_e9f517e1
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_e9f517e1
 Downfall / int_e9f79e23
type
Screw the War, We're Partying
 Downfall / int_e9f79e23
comment
Screw the War, We're Partying!: Eva Braun engineers vast parties to distract Hitler and their friends from the reality of Germany's impending defeat.
 Downfall / int_e9f79e23
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_e9f79e23
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_e9f79e23
 Downfall / int_ea2ae106
type
Windmill Crusader
 Downfall / int_ea2ae106
comment
Windmill Crusader: Hitler and some of his closest followers desperately tried to save the world from a global conspiracy they honestly believed to be real. As Berlin falls they face what they believe to be the twilight of mankind itself. Hitler himself is most likely insane, while his followers are rational except for their misguided belief that he is a legitimate leader. Their actions make total sense when one take this tragic belief into account.
 Downfall / int_ea2ae106
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1.0
 Downfall / int_ea2ae106
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_ea2ae106
 Downfall / int_ed05cfee
type
Naïve Newcomer
 Downfall / int_ed05cfee
comment
Naïve Newcomer: Traudl Junge, painfully so.
 Downfall / int_ed05cfee
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_ed05cfee
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1.0
 Downfall
hasFeature
Downfall / int_ed05cfee
 Downfall / int_ed2bbf8a
type
You Are in Command Now
 Downfall / int_ed2bbf8a
comment
You Are in Command Now: On several occassions Hitler randomly promotes officers to higher military positions. General Weidling is ordered to defend Berlin when he only came in to attest that he didn't move his command post and therefore shouldn't be executed. Ritter von Greim is an even better example: he is already a general, but when he makes it to the bunker he is put in command of the entire German air force (which is all but completely defunct by this point in time), and told that he has to rebuild it from the ground up. When Hitler starts claiming that he'll be able to give Greim a thousand jet aircraft on short notice, it becomes obvious that he and reality don't see eye to eye anymore.
 Downfall / int_ed2bbf8a
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1.0
 Downfall / int_ed2bbf8a
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_ed2bbf8a
 Downfall / int_ed503b22
type
Match Cut
 Downfall / int_ed503b22
comment
Match Cut: Hitler's flunkies pour gasoline over his and Eva Braun's corpses; cut to Traudl Junge pouring vodka into a glass for her own I Need a Freaking Drink moment.
 Downfall / int_ed503b22
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1.0
 Downfall / int_ed503b22
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_ed503b22
 Downfall / int_ed51d0
type
That Russian Squat Dance
 Downfall / int_ed51d0
comment
That Russian Squat Dance: At the end of the film, Traudl and Peter walk through a group of Russians celebrating their victory, which includes a few soldiers doing this while singing the song "Jablotschko."
 Downfall / int_ed51d0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_ed51d0
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_ed51d0
 Downfall / int_ed7b2907
type
Folk Hero
 Downfall / int_ed7b2907
comment
Folk Hero: The picture Hitler looks at in one scene is King Frederick II of Prussia, who was an idol to him. King Frederick was saved twice from utter defeat, including a Russian seizure of Berlin, by last-minute turns of events (the "Miracles of the House of Brandenburg"). Hitler hoped for something similar for himself (especially after FDR died).
 Downfall / int_ed7b2907
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1.0
 Downfall / int_ed7b2907
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_ed7b2907
 Downfall / int_ee8807f9
type
LawOfConservationOfDetail
 Downfall / int_ee8807f9
comment
Law of Conservation of Detail: Historically, Traudl Humps married Hitler's servant Hans Hermann Junge in 1943; he later volunteered to go to the front and died, so that by the time the film takes place Traudl Junge was already a widow at 25. It may seem strange not to mention such a major life event that happened during the initial timeskip, which would have explained why her last name changes in the film, but in a movie packed with characters who take turns in the spotlight, the filmmakers seemingly judged her dead husband nonessential to the narrative.
 Downfall / int_ee8807f9
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1.0
 Downfall / int_ee8807f9
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1.0
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Downfall / int_ee8807f9
 Downfall / int_eeb4a5eb
type
Anti-Climax
 Downfall / int_eeb4a5eb
comment
Anti-Climax: Hitler's suicide is staged in decidedly undramatic fashion, happening offscreen shortly into a random dinner scene. This was a deliberate choice by the director, who felt that such an evil man didn't deserve to be memorialized with a dramatic onscreen death.
 Downfall / int_eeb4a5eb
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1.0
 Downfall / int_eeb4a5eb
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1.0
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Downfall / int_eeb4a5eb
 Downfall / int_eedee4d
type
The Starscream
 Downfall / int_eedee4d
comment
The Starscream: Hitler's refusal to leave Berlin, despite clear signs that the city is lost before the Soviets even invade, opens the door for many Nazi officials to claim power for themselves at the expense of their Führer. Göring sends a telegram stating that if Hitler doesn't reply soon, he will assume that the leadership in Berlin has been incapacitated and thus shall take command of the Third Reich. Hitler, prodded by Bormann and Goebbels, sees this as a naked coup and, after ranting and raving about Göring's incompetence, expels his former Number Two from the chain of command. Himmler has been negotiating with the Western Allies in hopes of ensuring that he'll rule some form of Nazi Germany after the war. He even claims that Hitler was either sick or dead and thus authority of the Third Reich would pass down to him. Like with Göring, Hitler flies into a tantrum, expels Himmler from his inner circle, and then orders his capture and immediate execution.
 Downfall / int_eedee4d
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1.0
 Downfall / int_eedee4d
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Downfall / int_eedee4d
 Downfall / int_f0515dae
type
Sidelong Glance Biopic
 Downfall / int_f0515dae
comment
Sidelong Glance Biopic: The film looks at the final days of the life of Adolf Hitler from the perspective of his personal secretary, Traudl Junge, as well as other key witnesses such as Ernst-Günther Schenck and Helmuth Weidling.
 Downfall / int_f0515dae
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1.0
 Downfall / int_f0515dae
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_f0515dae
 Downfall / int_f15c2859
type
NO INDOOR VOICE
 Downfall / int_f15c2859
comment
No Indoor Voice: Hitler, whenever he's ranting. In two particular scenes, he's easily audible from behind a reinforced steel door!
 Downfall / int_f15c2859
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1.0
 Downfall / int_f15c2859
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_f15c2859
 Downfall / int_f16da697
type
Undying Loyalty
 Downfall / int_f16da697
comment
Undying Loyalty: Unlike many other members of Hitler's inner circle, Goebbels and his wife remain loyal to Hitler to the end.
 Downfall / int_f16da697
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_f16da697
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_f16da697
 Downfall / int_f1d6144a
type
War Is Hell
 Downfall / int_f1d6144a
comment
War Is Hell: The Battle of Berlin is seen from the German perspective (aka the losing side) and it's an apocalyptic nightmare. The Red Army is relentless, continuously shelling the buildings into fiery ruins and pushing deeper into the center of Berlin with every passing hour. The German defenses has been reduced to young children and old men with poor equipments, dying senselessly against the enemy in already lost battle. And if that's not bad enough, fanatical Nazis are prowling on the streets, killing any German who doesn't fight the Soviets. And all of this is due to Hitler's refusal to retreat or surrender.
 Downfall / int_f1d6144a
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1.0
 Downfall / int_f1d6144a
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_f1d6144a
 Downfall / int_f5241839
type
Braids of Action
 Downfall / int_f5241839
comment
Braids of Action: The female Child Soldier operating the flak gun has long, blonde, twin braids.
 Downfall / int_f5241839
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_f5241839
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_f5241839
 Downfall / int_f6698528
type
Vigilante Execution
 Downfall / int_f6698528
comment
Vigilante Execution: Several Volkssturm members are executed for cowardice by a man wearing a Bavarian hat (with a feather), who leads a goon squad. Near the end of the film, Peter sees the Bavarian hat man coming out of his apartment building, and when he enters his home, his mother was shot in the head, and his father was hung from the middle of the living room.
 Downfall / int_f6698528
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1.0
 Downfall / int_f6698528
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_f6698528
 Downfall / int_f67171cc
type
Empathy Doll Shot
 Downfall / int_f67171cc
comment
Empathy Doll Shot: When Ernst-Robert Grawitz (an SS doctor who helped in the development of death camp gas chambers) kills himself, his wife, and his three children with grenades, we see a doll landing in the street after the explosion.
 Downfall / int_f67171cc
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1.0
 Downfall / int_f67171cc
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1.0
 Downfall
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Downfall / int_f67171cc
 Downfall / int_f740a274
type
Historical Beauty Update
 Downfall / int_f740a274
comment
Historical Beauty Update: Compare the real Traudl Junge◊ with this one◊.
 Downfall / int_f740a274
featureApplicability
1.0
 Downfall / int_f740a274
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Downfall / int_f740a274
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Cope by Pretending
 Downfall / int_f7512035
comment
Cope by Pretending: Eva Braun tries to pretend everything's fine as Berlin is being shelled. When one hits above the bunker hard enough to cause the whole place to start shaking like an earthquake is going on, even she can't deny it anymore.
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 Downfall / int_f7cee9b
type
Last Stand
 Downfall / int_f7cee9b
comment
Last Stand: By the scattered and disorganized remnants of the Heer, SS, and Volkssturm.
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 Downfall / int_f8df38e6
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Pater Familicide
 Downfall / int_f8df38e6
comment
Ernst-Robert Grawitz commits suicide in his apartment during dinner with his wife and three children—by detonating a grenade and killing his family along with him. Also an example of Pater Familicide.
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Oktoberfest
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Oktoberfest: Eva Braun and at least one extra wearing a traditional Bavarian costume in Prussian Berlin.
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 Downfall / int_fdf22cfd
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Evil Is Hammy
 Downfall / int_fdf22cfd
comment
Evil Is Hammy: Is You-Know-Who ever. You half-wonder in the infamous breakdown scene whether he's going to have a heart attack from exertion before he kills himself.
 Downfall / int_fdf22cfd
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Downfall / int_fdf22cfd
 Downfall / int_ff7f34c5
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Pet the Dog
 Downfall / int_ff7f34c5
comment
Pet the Dog: The opening scene where Hitler plays the friendly uncle whilst interviewing a nervous group of women for a new secretary. At one point, he literally pets his dog, Blondi, before testing Traudl's abilities as a secretary. His statement that he values his dog much more than many people serves as an Establishing Character Moment. At one point, General Burgdorf, alone among all the "yes men" generals, shows he actually cares about his men when he stands up to Hitler after the latter undeservedly calls the German soldiers cowards.
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Downfall / int_ff7f34c5
 Downfall / int_ffad4e9f
type
Shown Their Work
 Downfall / int_ffad4e9f
comment
Shown Their Work: This movie was heavily researched. Much of the framing is taken from contemporary photographs and newsreels—one of the movie posters is basically a staged version of the very last picture ever taken of Adolf Hitler. The Hitler rant that became an infamous Internet meme is presented in this movie as it basically happened, with Hitler screaming at his subordinates, telling them he should have purged them like Stalin did to the Soviet general staff, and finally admitting that the war was lost and that he would kill himself in Berlin. Bruno Ganz (who is Swiss) went through a lot of effort and study to accurately imitate Hitler's mannerisms and speech patterns, including his distinct Austrian accent that is slightly difficult for native Germans to pull off convincingly. Ask any German-speaker, he nails it. Among the tools Ganz used to prepare for the role was a ten-minute tape recording of a dinner between Hitler and Field Marshal Gustaf Mannerheim of Finland, which is the only known recording of Hitler speaking in a calm and relaxed tone of voice. In the extended cut, during the wedding reception, Eva Braun says that, when signing the marriage certificate, she started to write her maiden name, then crossed out the B and wrote "Hitler." She actually did make this mistake in real life. While walking through the ruined streets of Berlin, Peter and some other kids see a dead woman in an APC. It's based on this photograph. While writing to her sister, Eva says that she is confident Fegelein will head south and continue the fight in Bavaria. The Alpine Fortress was a proposed plan to form a national redoubt in the Alps to continue fighting, though it was never fully endorsed by Hitler.
 Downfall / int_ffad4e9f
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Downfall

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 A Brief History of Equestria / Fan Fic
seeAlso
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Adolf Hitlarious / int_b3129c97
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Anti-Climax / int_b3129c97
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Apocalypse Anarchy / int_b3129c97
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Approval of God / int_b3129c97
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Artistic License – Chemistry / int_b3129c97
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Awkward Collar Pull / int_b3129c97
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Bad Vibrations / int_b3129c97
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Ballroom Blitz / int_b3129c97
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Braids of Action / int_b3129c97
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Broken-System Dogmatist / int_b3129c97
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But Not Too Evil / int_b3129c97
 ChikaoOhtsuka
seeAlso
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Contrast Montage / int_b3129c97
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Cope by Pretending / int_b3129c97
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Crisis Point Hospital / int_b3129c97
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Cyanide Pill / int_b3129c97
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Dramatic Sit-Down / int_b3129c97
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Empathy Doll Shot / int_b3129c97
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Fan Community Nicknames / int_b3129c97
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First-Person Peripheral Narrator / int_b3129c97
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Gallows Humor / int_b3129c97
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Glasses Pull / int_b3129c97
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God Was My Co-Pilot / int_b3129c97
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Gonk / int_b3129c97
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Historical Hero Upgrade / int_b3129c97
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Hope Sprouts Eternal / int_b3129c97
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I Should Have Done This Years Ago / int_b3129c97
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In the Dreaming Stage of Grief / int_b3129c97
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Just the First Citizen / int_b3129c97
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Kick the Morality Pet / int_b3129c97
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Lonely Piano Piece / int_b3129c97
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Meatgrinder Surgery / int_b3129c97
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Meme Acknowledgment / int_b3129c97
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Memetic Troll / int_b3129c97
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Mother Russia Makes You Strong / int_b3129c97
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Mr. Exposition / int_b3129c97
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My Master, Right or Wrong / int_b3129c97
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Oktoberfest / int_b3129c97
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Photoflood Lighting / int_b3129c97
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Plea of Personal Necessity / int_b3129c97
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Please Spare Him, My Liege! / int_b3129c97
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Politically Incorrect Villain / int_b3129c97
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Psycho Supporter / int_b3129c97
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Psychopathic Manchild / int_b3129c97
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Realpolitik / int_b3129c97
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Record Needle Scratch / int_b3129c97
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Request for Privacy / int_b3129c97
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Screw the Rules, I Make Them! / int_b3129c97
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Screw the War, We're Partying / int_b3129c97
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Sidelong Glance Biopic / int_b3129c97
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Sound-Only Death / int_b3129c97
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Tanks, but No Tanks / int_b3129c97
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Tantrum Throwing / int_b3129c97
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That Russian Squat Dance / int_b3129c97
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That Was Not a Dream / int_b3129c97
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Urban Warfare / int_b3129c97
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Villain Team-Up / int_b3129c97
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Villainous Cheekbones / int_b3129c97
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Who Will Bell the Cat? / int_b3129c97
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Windmill Political / int_b3129c97