Past is Prologue: Downfall
I know I've just seen a good World War Two movie when it makes me interested in World War Two again. That is no small feat. After nearly half a century marinating in an era that is now less a historic period and more a multimedia empire of films, documentaries, television series, video games, and books, I've reached the point of saturation. It's one reason I eventually drifted toward the Cold War, a period that receives only a fraction of the attention (I am a contrarian, if nothing else!). So, when a movie sends me rummaging through my shelf of World War Two wargames, I know it has accomplished something remarkable. Bernd Eichinger's Downfall did exactly that. While Downfall didn’t reveal anything I hadn’t already known, what struck me wasn’t the events themselves but seeing those familiar facts brought vividly to life through exceptional acting. It’s one thing to read about Frau Goebbels poisoning her children because she didn’t want them to live in a post-Nazi wo...