The Bunker

As far I know there are at least four movies over Hitler at bunker nearby closing of WWII, firstly Alec Guinness's HITLER THE LAST DAYS made in 1973, Anthony Hopkins's THE BUNKER finished in 1981, then came up Derek Jacobi's INSIDE THE THIRD REICH shot in 1983, and the lasted hors-concours Bruno Ganz's DOWNFALL, this low budge TV-movie in question is almost unknown by a large majority of cinephiles, aired in Brazil in 1986 I watched this fine picture wondering myself if some happenings down there were really true, as the mad dog Hitler demanding to Albert Speer a total destruction of Germany, aiming for didn't let stone unturned to allied forces, even it will cost millions of Germans lives, at my point of view very questionable in fact that Paris was took by Germans and when they lost the power of city it didn't happened there, even some sources said otherwise.

Also in the beginning of the movie the American Soldier James O'Donnell entering in Bunker complex trying figures out what's happened there on those 105 days underneath of surface, he already exposes to the audience the follow line "I can't guarantee that what you're about to see is historical truth", so start this statement all coming next should be understood as simple conjecture, instead accurate facts, even though it has many witnesses whom survived that surely could vouch for those facts here and there to assembly the whole overview in order to reach more closest of the truth.

Anthony Hopkins made a reliable Hitler aside some criticism from some, mainly because Mr. Bruno Ganz becomes unbeaten after his remarkable performance in DOWNFALL, thus stayed so hard for other Hitler's contenders, anyway a hard-to-find picture, I'd to appeal to our last hope Youtube which I've found a fine print with English subtitles only, I went back to 1986 briefly on those narrow facilities that was Hitler's shelter.

Thanks for reading.

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First watch: 1986 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-Youtube / Rating: 7.5.

A tour de force performance by Hopkins manages to propel this sometimes slow-moving docudrama. The supporting performances, especially by Piper Laurie and Richard Jordan, also drive this intensely psychological take on the last days of the Third Reich. One criticism though: is a German accent really that difficult for professional actors to mimic?

The Third Reich was a land of insanity from its very beginning. That insanity increased as time went on, and this movie offers a pretty good look at its last days, as Hitler and his entourage hole themselves up in a bunker underneath the Reich Chancellory and act as if they're actually accomplishing something, even as Germany is being systematically overrun by Allied armies.

Of most interest are the various performances and the manner in which the various personalities are portrayed. Anthony Hopkins' work as Adolf Hitler was very good - especially considering the difficulties involved in playing such a complex and controversial subject. I thought Hopkins nailed the emotional complexity of the man - deliberately hiding himself from the realities of the War, calmly sitting down to tea with his secretaries one minute, then launching into a deranged tirade against his generals the next, addicted to drugs administered by his personal physician. Those who did makeup for this also got Hopkins to look the part - well not perfectly, but pretty close. Where I thought Hopkins missed the mark a bit was in Hitler's physical state. Aside from some trembling, Hopkins' Hitler actually looked pretty healthy. Other actors have to be looked at as well though, because this movie isn't really about Hitler - it has more to do with how the various personalities involved interacted with Hitler.

Much of the movie revolved around Nazi architect Albert Speer. Richard Jordan handled the part well, although the portrayal of Speer was interesting - probably unavoidably so, since Speer was almost as complex a character as Hitler. In the movie, Speer comes across as basically a good guy, fighting against Hitler's insane plans. There's truth to that view, but it's too limited. Speer was a devoted disciple of Hitler, and his actions against Hitler began only when it became obvious that Germany would lose the war. For Speer, as long as Germany might win, the horrors of Nazism seemed acceptable. Something was lacking in Cliff Gorman's portrayal of Joseph Goebbels. A lot was right - the portrayal of Goebbels' fanatical devotion to Hitler and Nazism, his rabid anti-semitism and his cold as ice attitude - to the point of killing his own family without a second thought simply because he felt that without Hitler, there was no reason for any of them to live. Still, something about Gorman as Goebbels didn't work for me. He just didn't look the part, and I could never really equate the voice with Goebbels either. The third figure of significance was Martin Bormann, portrayed by Michael Lonsdale. Lonsdale was good here. Bormann was a rather shadowy character, and Lonsdale portrayed him that way. You could never really be sure what Bormann's priority was here - getting out of the bunker or staying loyal to Hitler. In fact, that's accurate, because above everything else, Bormann's main preoccupation was with power - whether represented by Hitler or someone else.

Largely missing from this account of these last days in the bunker (although it does pop up in the end) is the rather morbid and completely unreal question of who would succeed Hitler - as if there was going to be anything to succeed to. As I understand it, that was a rather serious issue in the bunker in those last days and weeks; it gets largely passed over in this movie. Basically, however, this is very well done. I particularly liked the last scene, when the machinist Hentschel (Martin Jarvis) throws papers in disgust at the radio when it announces Hitler's heroic death, "fighting to the last breath against Bolshevism," when Hentschel knew full well that Hitler had cowardly committed suicide and left everyone else to fend for themselves. Overall, I give this a 7/10

A truly good performance here for Anthony Hopkins. I would say as good as the Bruno Ganz's one, back in 2004 for THE FALL. I won't add anything more to the other comments. A real great TV movie.

But just little thing, about characterizations of Adolf Hitler all over the years.

I you closely Watch footage film showing the dictator, the real one, you'll notice that his hair - at least in the last years of his life - did not fall on his forehead, the left side. It was ONLY in the early years, during his rise to power. And curiously, in all films - I must admit although that I don't exactly remember the Bruno Ganz portray - Hitler is shown with his hair falling on the left side of his forehead. I have always wondered why... And I guess I found out. It's only a way to hide the lack of resemblance between the actor playing Hitler and the Führer himself. Because in all memories Hitler had his hair falling on the left side of his forehead. But that just remains a little detail, that DOESN'T NOT point out any flaws in the performances and the quality of this little TV gem.

Unless you understand the psychological make up of the German People and can clearly understand the German language it is hard to understand the absolute Charisma of Adolph Hitler or how the Third Reich came into being. This made for TV documentary is very accurate in its depictions, taken from interviews of an American officer over many years with the survivors of the events portrayed. The film chronicles the last 105 days of the life of Hitler and his inner circle from the moment he descends to the bunker in January 1945 until his death on April 30th of that year. Between the make-up and the acting of Anthony Hopkins you might well believe that Hitler was alive again, so compelling his performance. The late Richard Jordan gives one his finest performances as Reichsminister Albert Speer, Hitler's architect and later minister of munitions during the war. And to answer the carping critique of another commentator, everything I have read in history, which as it is my college major, is considerable, points to Speer's becoming a voice of reason and having a change of heart about the German Empire toward the end of the war. What was undeniable is the fact that those closest to him remained fanatically loyal, for the most part, some of them even pot the time that this film was made.

Two other outstanding performances were Michael Lonsdale (Moonraker) as Martin Borman and Piper Laurie as Magda Geobels, wife of Hitler's propaganda minister. She did kill her six children (or was it 7, I lost count) before dying with her husband in a suicide pact at the bunker. Whatever your feelings about Hitler, this film is a definite must see.