Bruno Ganz boldly stepped into the boots of Adolf Hitler for a "claustrophobic, tense and often riveting" portrait of a crumbling Third Reich in Downfall. It was a subject guaranteed to bring attention for German director Oliver Hirschbiegel but he was praised for sidestepping sensationalism in favour of an almost mundane depiction of evil. He received an Oscar nod in 2004 while Ganz scooped a handful of acting gongs on the festival circuit for his searing performance.

Looking For Adolf

Between snippets of behind-the-scenes footage, Hirschbiegel and Ganz are cautious yet eloquent in conveying their ideas in an hour-long Making Of documentary. Above all they wanted to avoid sinking into a "parody" of Nazism and Ganz had no qualms about humanising perhaps the most hated figure of recent history - although he admits that he had to "subdue certain moral scruples" to do the job properly. He talks too about Hitler's "strong power of seduction" while actress Alexandra Maria Lara (who plays the Führer’s secretary) goes a step further, saying, "In those days Hitler was like a pop star to women."

These interviews are shown in full in a separate section of the DVD, including word from the book's author Joachim Fest and writer/producer Bernd Eichinger who explains that authenticity was paramount and "composed of thousands of details", gleaned from meticulous research and served by documentary-style camerawork. This attention to detail is also evident in a virtual tour of Hitler's bunker (essentially an interactive photo gallery).

A Military Operation

Hirschbiegel talks more about achieving authenticity and how far he was able to take artistic licence in a commentary for half-an-hour's worth of behind-the-scenes footage. Especially interesting is what the director describes as "an absurd and grotesque" scene between General Hans Krebs (Rolf Kanies) and his superior officer, which was shortened for the film because Hirschbiegel felt audiences wouldn’t believe that it had actually happened. Indeed there's a definite Monty Python-esque quality about seeing an ostensibly dead man falling out of a cupboard during a high-level military meeting...

Executive producer Christine Rothe and production designer Bernd Lepel provide commentary for footage shot in Russia, which was truly a military exercise given that Hirschbiegel had to coordinate 5,600 extras. Elsewhere there's a photo gallery that glibly compares the actors to the historical figures they portray and biographer Melissa Müller takes the opportunity to plug her biography of Traudl Junge in an otherwise pointless featurette. She bangs on repeatedly about Junge's initial naiveté in working for Hitler and subsequent guilt complex - all of which might be enough to put you off buying the book.

A set of cast and crew biographies completes the disc, which benefits from refreshingly open interviews and plenty of behind-the-scenes footage. Ultimately though, cast and crew are speaking with one voice and it would have been interesting to see the views of other historians on the matter of Hitler's last days and the influence he exerted even after his death. A detailed focus on production design (vitally important for authenticity) is also lacking, but this DVD edition of Downfall remains morbidly fascinating.

EXTRA FEATURES