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The Film Downfall

1141 Words5 Pages

Film has the ability to capture events in time that visual narrate suffering, pain, honor, and death. These elements of the human experience separates photography and cinema from other art forms, as the viewer witnesses what they believe is untampered truth. So what better way to visually document and tell the story of the greatest war ever fought in modern time, World War II. This war was of biblical proportions with over 72 million casualties and scares that were felt in almost every part of the world form Europe, China, Middle East, North Africa, South-East Asia and the Pacific. World War II set a script of tremendous magnitude that any director would love to depict with names like Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, Gen. Patton, and Gen. Eisenhower leading the allied forces against the evilness set by the axis forces of Hirohito’s Japan, Benito Mussolini’s Italy, and the most villainous of all Germany’s Adolph Hitler. There have been numerous films depicting Hitler and his Nazi regime including his own propaganda films that helped persuade a …show more content…

It takes place almost entirely inside a bunker beneath the city of Berlin, where Adolph Hitler and many people within his inner circle are spending their final moments. The only time the viewer is taken outside the bunker is to show the overgrowing collapse of the Nazi defense of the city and like many other anti-war films Downfall depicts the chaos brought on the city with the Russian army’s continuous aerial bombardment. These scenes outside the bunker also reveal some of the anti-messages within the film as it depicts loyal German civilians and their attempts to fight off the Russians until death. Director Oliver Hirschbiegel does a fantastic job of revealing the chaotic nature of war outside the bunker and within as the nature of war is now more politically and above all mentally

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While he dictated, the culture of Germany was changed. Hitler wanted to make the population all think and be one certain way. To make this happen he made, “ Musical performances, movies, and other cultural public activities...all meant to make German’s brains exactly like the Nazi, eliminating any other thought of anti-government”(1). By controlling what people watched and read, Hitler brainwashed Germans to think positively of him and the Nazi’s. The population was not able to freely read or watch any sort of literature or other arts.

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In his book, A Higher Call, Adam Makos provides the readers with information on how even though their were many conflicts and hardships between the enemies during World War II, there was a chance that there were good men on both sides of the war. Adam Makos is a journalist, historian, and editor of Valor, a military magazine. Throughout his whole life he has been attached to what went on during World War II. When he was younger, him and his friends wanted to be journalists one summer and started up a magazine that eventually took off. The main purpose of the magazine was very similar to this book and its meaning.

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These men, both daring and courageous, risked their lives on the beaches of Japan for the idea of freedom for all. One of the main themes throughout the book is the idea of media and its influence around the world, but in this case, especially in World War II.

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“Imaginary Witness” Hollywood and the Holocaust “Imaginary Witness” Hollywood and the Holocaust is a documentary directed by Daniel Anker that explore the treatment of the Holocaust in Hollywood film and how it dealt with the holocaust. The documentary starts with the 1920s talking about the lack for portrayal in Hollywood movies about the rising Nazi threat back and the uneasy relationship between the Hollywood studios, also to explore the history of the holocaust in Hollywood films. Moreover, there were some compelling portrayal of life under the Nazis and how it affected the Jews. It determinately split into two parts: how the Nazi Germany was presented on Hollywood screens before the war and how the Holocaust was depicted on Hollywood screen after the war.

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Although Hitler was not behind the intricate propaganda that was fed to the Germans; in 1929, Hitler chose Paul Joseph Goebbels to control the media in Germany (“How Did the Nazis Use Propaganda”). Goebbels became the Minister of Propaganda and Public Information. His main goal was to build up Hitler’s public imagine and “Nazify the German Culture (“How Did the Nazis Use Propaganda”).” Goebbels even controlled the kind of books that the German’s read. Any books that did not glorify Hitler and the Nazi culture were burned.

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Alan Sennett gives more interesting insight about the power of imagery in his journal article, Film Propaganda: Triumph of the Will as a Case Study: Of particular significance and artistic merit is the aforementioned opening sequence that constructs Hitler as a god-like figure descending from the heavens through the clouds over Nuremberg to visit his adoring worshippers. The powerful religious imagery of the first part of the film surely could not have been achieved simply through competent montage of newsreel sequences. Riefenstahl’s careful editing of footage taken with wide angle and telephoto lenses from prepared positions locates the audience within the spectacle itself. One of the first feelings I had when watching the film was that

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The influence of Hollywood can be seen increasing or decreasing the public’s perception of a person, group, or cause in the matter of moments. John Wayne is one that can be argued to have had am extremely large impact on the creation/influence of war films through personal views. In Allan Dwan’s film Sands of Iwo Jima, the most expensive film to date, he we give John Wayne the nod for the lead role of Sergeant Srkyer, whose job was to lead a group of inexperienced Marines into Iwo Jima. This would be Wayne’s first Academy Award nomination, thus solidifying his emerging influence in Hollywood. Though John Wayne had no military experience whatsoever, his political beliefs, and his portrayal of an American within his films helped him gain support from high national figures.

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In war, there is no clarity, no sense of definite, everything swirls and mixes together. In Tim O’Brien’s novel named “The Things They Carried”, the author blurs the lines between the concepts like ugliness and beauty to show how the war has the potential to blend even the most contrary concepts into one another. “How to Tell a True War Story” is a chapter where the reader encounters one of the most horrible images and the beautiful descriptions of the nature at the same time. This juxtaposition helps to heighten the blurry lines between concepts during war. War photography has the power to imprint a strong image in the reader’s mind as it captures images from an unimaginable world full of violence, fear and sometimes beauty.

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"Hitler's Propaganda Machine."). Hitler's book “Mein Kampf” contained “a clear statement of Hitler’s goals”(Ronald M. Smelser) but also served as propaganda for his party and regime. Propaganda was an important tool for the Nazis to have because “they cleverly manipulated the fears and weaknesses of each group” which helped them consolidate even more power. By preying on the peoples fear through propaganda they turned to Hitler and the Nazi party to protect them. Nazi propaganda also made the state look stronger and moral while in actuality Hitler and the Nazis were not moral.

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When going to war it is in everyone’s mind to get scared. It doesn’t matter, either men or women, everyone has a right to get scared whenever they hear that they are going to war. However, General Patton gave his soldiers confidence by giving a speech in front of all the soldiers about what will happen at war. Hope to go forward and reach personal conquests exists in every man, and this often navigates the hero into a state of tragedy involving suffering. World war two was the most vicious war in history.

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The camera then cuts to a close-up of a soldier’s face, showing the fear and anxiety on his face as he prepares to land on the beach. This powerful and intense depiction of the Normandy landing during World War II is often cited as one of the most realistic and harrowing depictions of combat in film history. This scene sets the tone for the rest of the film, immersing the audience in the brutal realities of war and establishing a sense of the violence that characterizes the battlefield. Additionally, the scene serves to introduce the main characters and their relationships with one another, as well as establish the film’s central themes of sacrifice, heroism, and the human cost of war. Overall, the opening scene is critical in drawing the audience into the story and setting the stage for the emotional journey to come.

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The rise of Nazism in Germany began in 1924 when the Nazi party gained seats in the Reichstag and Hitler’s reign ended in 1945 as did the war. There have been several films produced that represent the various perceptions and concepts of historical events that occurred while the Nazis were in power. The Lion King, Cabaret (tomorrow belongs to me), Sophie Scholl, Schindlers’ List, and Downfall all demonstrate diverse aspects of Nazism. The Lion King displayed all characteristics of Hitler’s rise to power using manipulation and other tactics for the Nazi party upsurge to an empire. Cabaret draws the attention towards Hitler’s youth to attain future generations for what Hitler had visioned to be an everlasting empire.

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In some World Wars they threaten national survivals and therefore reports and photographs are released and published were they intended to create a sense of morale or to just keep the war effort going. For example, “One answer lies in the contemporary acclaim for photography as a truth-telling art”(Marwil,Jonathan). They say that because some photos of the war tells the truth as to what happen and some photos don’t and with photography you will always know the truth. Some reports and photos that are published from these photojournalists need to carry a certain amount of truth to inform the public in different places so people will know the truth instead of the lies. Some argue that reality is a like a videogame, but in this case it is not and people need to know about the war.

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