In April of 1945, Germany stands at the brink of defeat with the Russian Army closing in from the east and the Allied Expeditionary Force attacking from the west. In Berlin, capital of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler proclaims that Germany will still achieve victory and orders his generals and advisers to fight to the last man. When the end finally does come, and Hitler lies dead by his own hand, what is left of his military must find a way to end the killing that is the Battle of Berlin, and lay down their arms in surrender.
Acting
Bruno Ganz's Hitler: volcanic, pathetic, utterly human — and that's the terror.
Direction
Hirschbiegel traps you in that bunker until you choke on hopelessness.
Production
Meticulous historical reconstruction that refuses to aestheticize.
Director
Oliver Hirschbiegel
Bruno Ganz
Adolf Hitler
Alexandra Maria Lara
Traudl Junge
Corinna Harfouch
Magda Goebbels
Ulrich Matthes
Joseph Goebbels
Juliane Köhler
Eva Braun
Heino Ferch
Albert Speer
Christian Berkel
Prof. Dr. Ernst-Günter Schenck
Thomas Kretschmann
SS-Gruppenführer Hermann Fegelein
Ulrich Noethen
Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler
Birgit Minichmayr
Gerda Christian
Rolf Kanies
General der Infanterie Hans Krebs
Justus von Dohnányi
General der Infanterie Wilhelm Burgdorf
Michael Mendl
General der Artillerie Helmuth Weidling
André Hennicke
SS-Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke
Christian Redl
Generaloberst Alfred Jodl
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 'Hitler Reacts' meme phenomenon (2007-2010s) used this film's subtitles for everything from video game delays to iPhone releases — a bizarre democratization of a performance that was meant to terrify.
Director Oliver Hirschbiegel specifically cast against type: Bruno Ganz had played angels and saints, making his Hitler's physical collapse feel like a perverted Passion play.
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