Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973)

An Exercise In Nonsense

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Not particularly cinematic but still fairly arresting thanks to Alec Guinness's riveting performance in the title role. Guinness's interpretation of Hitler portrays him as both a doddering old coot AND a paranoid lunatic. He's pretty scary. Director Ennio de Concini juxtaposes the outré goings on in Hitler's bunker with newsreel footage of Germany's decimation at the hands of allied forces. The dialog is at times comical (Hitler discussing the obesity problem of German music stars) and at times creepy (Hitler ordering the flooding of German subway tunnels being used as a make-shift hospital by injured German soldiers). Guinness is great and is supported by many fine character actors including Adolfo Celi, Simon Ward and Eric Porter. Doris Kunstmann makes an appropriately bourgeois Eva Braun and, in a cameo, Diana Cilento plays a resourceful flying ace. The chilling music score is by Mischa Spoliansky.

This narrative, which boasts the authoritative stamp of Sir Hugh Trevor Roper is a classic. An Anglo-Italian production, it had fine scenes, acting and script. Whilst I do like the other comparable film 'The Bunker' (1981), this one reigns supreme.Hitler retires to his bunker and the atmosphere is captured very faithfully, even if we didn't really know what was true or not. The claustrophobic environment, coupled with the impending doom of the oncoming Russians, especially when hell's rain can be heard above, from inside the bunker gives us more than a fair idea of what was going through the minds of those, in a way, imprisoned below. There were fine actors in it and of course, Sir Alec Guinness's portrayal of Hitler is excellent. At times though, it seemed there were elements of comedy in his portrayal, but it could be said it was almost showing a kind of sympathetic playing in the sense of a man who has wronged but feels wronged himself. (By Germany and the Germans more than the allies).When 'Der Fuhrer' is mouthing off, deluding himself everything is okay when clearly it's not, there are added documentary footage pieces of WW2 Berlin/Germany/Battlefields/Nazi atrocities, contradicting his very words to emphasise his colossal delusions.The fine actors in it carry this through very effectively right up to its predictable and factual conclusion. However it is meant to portray the end of the Reich and Hitler himself, some questions other than the dialogue that may have been recorded leave us to 'suppose' what MAY have been said. For example, it was known that Eva Braun was totally dedicated to Hitler, but, leading up to the couple's suicide, she is seen questioning his motives, basically as if they were worth it, then at this, topping herself. (No-one other than Hitler and Eva were present at their point of suicide history has had us believe). There again, there's always licence so to pick on this film for that would be unfair.The last time I saw this on TV(UK) was in 1985, at a kind of celebration of forty years since the end of WW2. (Unless I'd missed it again in the schedules in these next twenty-odd years!). Still, I got to video it and then convert it to DVD, but recently, I managed to buy the DVD online from a Danish supplier, thankfully - a good film.

The movie opens with a series of affidavits attesting to its authenticity, as if it already expects its accuracy to come under suspicion. At least, that's what I thought when I saw various scenes and conversations that appeared to be badly interpolated from known or widely accepted historical facts.The basic problem is the fallacy that you can't go wrong in saying bad things about a bad guy. Unfortunately, this oversimplified formula is applied here and takes the subjective high ground. This is most obvious, in the 21st century, where Hitler's anti-smoking policy is hyped. An analysis of this from a 1973-based perspective shows an arrogant, self-indulgent dictator imposing his own killjoy whims on those imprisoned in his presence. On the other hand, what we see now is a top-level politician banning smoking in a very small portion of all government offices. No one is to blame for playing on dated values, however this does highlight the subjectivity and specious moral judgments being made.In fact, there is also a good deal of realism. Real historical events are referenced and Hitler's real attitudes towards certain individuals and groups are also demonstrated. But they are tacked on to the unconvincing drama.However, if you did like this movie, you probably won't like The Bunker (1981) with Anthony Hopkins. It's much more even in it's portrayal of history's easiest portrayable villain, if you don't mind Goebbels sounding like he's from... what, New York?

Truly on the level of "Dr. Strangelove", "Hitler..." details the last 240 hours of Mr. Schicklegruber's life. We see him surrounged by his bug-eyed, fanatical Party people (the liar Goebbles and the piglike Bormann), paralyized Army Fieldmarshalls, the SS schemer Fegelein, and the rest of the army, navy, SS, and air force hangers-on who are mostly young, drunk, and making love to the female staff. For some reason, all shots outside the bunker are monochrome (to represent reality?) while everything within those 60 inch thick walls is in a gauzy technicolor. The action is seen by a young blonde Army officer who arrives to brief his Fuehrer on his General's advance. He is made Gen. Kreb's deputy and hangs on untill the 9th night. Though him we witness the general insanity of Hitler staying on in his mangled capital, the plotting of Hitler's entorage to hide the truth from him, listening to Adolf's interminable stories, etc. In short, you get to see what sort of madness goes on when a country invests absolute leadership in one man. Hitler's rant to his three Army commanders and Bormann is hilarious as we see him scream them against the walls of his war room. Nothing comes out right for the title character, an inverted Chaplin. Hitler walks stiffly, is bag-eyed, and has a semi-useless arm thanks to the 1944 bombplot. All of these aspects, and Hitler's general character, are masterfully acted by Guiness. This film is only depressing if you are a Nazi or a Buchanan supporter; others will cheer when the credits roll. I didn't know smoking was such a central component of the failure of the III Reich...maybe tobacco company execs will use this film in an anti-anti-smoking campaign.