A feature film will be screened in German cinemas featuring the final days of Adolf Hitler's downfall in spring 1945. In "The Downfall", the Nazi dictator appears in a central role for the first time. This is a shift from the previous tendency in German cinema to depict Hitler only as a figure in the background or a character who does not appear on camera at all. The film, produced by the acclaimed director Bernd Eichinger, tells the story of the last 12 days of Hitler's life in his "Führerbunker" in Berlin, while Soviet troops were closing in on the German capital. Hitler is played by award-winning Swiss actor Bruno Ganz. Until he starts having hysterical fits, Ganz's Hitler talks in a soft, melodic Austrian accent, far different from the barking tone he adopted for his mass rallies. The director said the voice was copied from the single recording which exists of Hitler talking in normal tones.
The film is based on the book by Traudl Junge, a former secretary to Hitler who died in 2002, and other survivors who were present in the bunker where Hitler, Eva Braun, Joseph and Magda Goebbels committed suicide just before Russian troops entered the shelter. The movie has already received widespread praise from historians and film critics. With a cost estimated at US$ 16 million, it is one the most expensive German productions ever.
