Der Untergang

Argument

The film begins in 1942 when, in Hitler’s barracks in East Prussia , several women from various German cities are presented with the aim that at least one would be chosen as the Führer’s personal secretary . Traudl Humps is the chosen one. The narrative moves to the 56th birthday of Hitler, April 20, 1945.

Traudl Junge resides in the Führerbunker . Generals Wilhelm Burgdorf and Hans Krebs indicate that the Soviets have their positions only 12 kilometers from the center of the city. Hitler’s tremors and moodiness are visible in Hitler.

At the reception of his birthday he decides to stay in Berlin and rejects a diplomatic solution. Hitler’s officers agree that the Führer has lost his sense of reality. Later, Hitler talks about his scorched earth policy - to destroy everything before the arrival of the Allies - with Albert Speer . Speer prays for the German people, to which Hitler replies that if they do not survive this test, they are too weak and must be exterminated. Eva Braun holds a party for the bunker, but the bombing interrupts her and ends the party ahead of time. On the other hand, Heinrich Himmler plans to meet with General Eisenhower to negotiate peace behind Hitler’s back, and his assistant Hermann Fegelein warns him that his actions constitute high treason .

The situation in Berlin is alarming; The civilians try to take refuge in the rubble of the Soviet bombings, and emphasizes a child soldier, member of the Hitler youth , called Peter Kranz. His father is opposed to his actions, and later Peter is decorated along with other children and youth by the Fuhrer to know of his courage, receiving an Iron Cross.

In the bunker, Hitler and Joseph Goebbels analyze the situation with the generals trying to move the few military divisions that they possessed; The generals oppose, seeing that the maneuvers planned by the Fuhrer are practically impossible. Meanwhile , Traudl believes that General Felix Steiner could save them. However, Steiner can not mobilize enough men. Knowing this, Hitler dismisses all but the four highest generals. He rebukes them furiously and claims that he prefers suicide rather than surrender. Later, Hitler, Eva, Gerda and Traudl discuss various means of suicide. Hitler intends to shoot himself through the mouth. Eva mentions taking cyanide. Hitler gives Gerda and Traudl a cyanide tablet to each. Eva Braun writes a goodbye letter to her sister, and Magda Goebbels to her son Harald Quandt.

Hitler meets later with Speer and accepts his decision to flee. Magda Goebbels brings her children to the bunker to accompany both her parents and the Führer. General Keitel is ordered to meet with Karl Dönitz , whom Hitler believes is capable of gathering troops in the north, and to help him plan an offensive to recover Romanian oil fields.

Weidling reports that the Soviets cut off communications with the outside world. No ammunition arrives and air support has abandoned them. Mohnke says that the Red Army is now 300 or 400 meters from the Chancellery and that they can withstand a day or two at most. Before leaving, Hitler reassures officials, arguing that General Walther Wenck would save them all. After a great argument with the high command of the Luftwaffe and the Wehrmacht , Hitler assimilates that the end is imminent and makes the decision to commit suicide before being captured by the Soviet troops.

Rochus Misch , the bunker operator, receives a telegram from Hermann Göring , head of the Luftwaffe . Bormann gives Hitler the telegram of Göring, where he asks for permission to assume the command of the Reich and asks the recognition before ten of the night, moment in which it is going to assume the authority in the absence of a response. Hitler orders Göring’s arrest and his separation from office. Later, after a dinner with Goebbels, his secretaries and members of the Luftwaffe, they learn that Himmler had been negotiating the German surrender with Count Folke Bernadotte , and also requested his execution and his separation from office. He also ordered the arrest of Fegelein, who had not been seen for several days, to be tried for desertion. Eva tries to dissuade Hitler but he is still determined to ask for the heads of Himmler and Fegelein. Fegelein is found in a brothel and executed, accused of high treason.

On Hitler’s wedding day, Traudl takes the Fiihrer’s will to the dictation . Hitler ordered Goebbels to flee Berlin, but he chose to disobey. Hitler marries Eva Braun. Günsche (personal escort of Hitler) makes the preparations for the cremation. He later brought a response from General Keitel, stating that the Soviets close to taking the buildings and territories near the bunker and the main armies are fenced or can not continue their assault. Hitler says he will never surrender. It also prohibits surrender to all others.

Eva Braun has her latest conversation with Traudl. He gives her one of her best coats and advises her to escape. Hitler has his last meal in silence with Constanze Manziarly and the secretaries. He says goodbye to them in his personal bunker, giving Magda Goebbels his Gold Badge of the Party (original mark of the members of the NSDAP) and retires to his room with Eva Braun. Despite pleas by Magda, the couple commit suicide and the bodies are burned out of the bunker. Magda Goebbels kills her six children by putting cyanide in her mouth after drugging her. Joseph Goebbels, having also dictated his will to Traudl Junge, kills his wife and commits suicide. Both are also incinerated.

Most survivors of the bunker attempt to escape in order to reach the Berlin territories under US control and surrender to them, but they are either killed or taken prisoner by Red Army foot soldiers or commit suicide. Already in the middle of May 2 , the German surrender is imminent. Gerda decides to remain in Berlin, like many soldiers and generals, who would be captured or they would commit suicide. Traudl makes his way across the Soviet lines, being then taken by the hand of the young soldier Peter, who survived the bombing. After this, Weidling communicates of official form the capitulation of the German forces in the city.

After the announcement of the surrender, we see the civilians who survived in Berlin, who after the battle escape from the city, including Traudl and Peter, who escape on a bicycle , after this are shown texts of the survivors of the battle , Who were captured and released by the Red Army , died in jail or disappeared, thereby finalizing the film.

Cast

• Bruno Ganz : Adolf Hitler .
• Alexandra Maria Lara : Traudl Junge .
• Ulrich Matthes: Joseph Goebbels .
• Corinna Harfouch: Magda Goebbels .
• Juliane Köhler : Eva Braun .
• Thomas Kretschmann : SS-Gruppenführer Hermann Fegelein .
• Heino Ferch: Albert Speer .
• Christian Berkel : SS-Obersturmbannführer Dr. Ernst-Günther Schenck .
• André Hennicke: SS-Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke .
• Götz Otto : Sturmbannführer Otto Günsche .
• Ulrich Noethen: Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler .
• Christian Redl: Generaloberst Alfred Jodl .
• Rolf Kanies: Hans Krebs .
• Michael Mendl: General Helmuth Weidling .
• Matthias Habich: SS-Obersturmbannführer Prof. Dr. Werner Haase .
• Birgit Minichmayr: Gerda Christian .
• Dietrich Hollinderbäumer: Generalfeldmarschall Robert Ritter von Greim .
• Dieter Mann: Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel .
• Justus von Dohnányi: General Wilhelm Burgdorf .
• Gerald Alexander Held: Walther Hewel .
• Thomas Thieme: Reichsleiter Martin Bormann .
• Donevan Gunia: Peter Kranz.
• Hans Steinberg: General Karl Koller.
• Heinrich Schmieder: Oberscharführer Rochus Misch .
• Igor Romanov: Obersturmbannführer Peter Högl.
• Igor Bubenchikov: SS-Obersturmbannführer Franz Schädle .
• Michael Brandner: Hans Fritzsche
• Christian Hoening: SS-Obergruppenführer Ernst-Robert Grawitz.
• Anna Thalbach: Hanna Reitsch .
• Bettina Redlich: Constanze Manziarly .
• Devid Striesow: Sergeant Fritz Tornow.
• Mathias Gnädinger: Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring .
• Alexander Slastin: General Colonel Soviet Vasily Chuikov .

Parodies

A scene in the film, in which Hitler launches a furious diatriba to realize that the war is lost, ³ has been a great source of numerous parodies in sites of videos of Internet like it is YouTube . ⁴ In these videos, titled “Hitler learns of …” the original audio of Ganz’s voice is maintained , but other subtitles are added , which are related to current politics , sport , popular culture , or life Everyday and other phenomena. Other scenes from various parts of the film have been parodied in the same way, especially the scene in which Hitler orders Otto Günsche to find the SS-Gruppenführer Hermann Fegelein , and the scene in which Hitler discusses a counterattack against Soviet forces. Also when Hitler discovers Himmler’s negotiations to end the war.

References