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Thread: Downfall: A Review (chris Knipp)

  1. #16
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    That's a good idea -- about some kind of prefatory announcement before the actual drama of the film. I'm not an expert on Ganz. I still haven't seen Sokurov's Molokh, which I must -- after Father and Son and The Sun, I've become a Sokurov fan. Unfortunately from our point of view nobody knows much and the movies or TV they see misinforms them because it tells them too little. I believe in preparing the Dictionary of Cultural Literacy S.E. Hirsch found that only a minority of younger people knew the dates of WWI, WWII, the (US) Civil War. Even Vietnam is a mystery to them. But they need to absorb way more than a German movie to learn about the Nazis and WWII.

    When you're watching an actor it may be better if you don't know him at all or not very well. I was conscious this was an actor impersonating Hitler, how could it be otherwise? But I think he did a fantastic job. I didn't see him trying too hard. And I agree with those who consider this a great performance, one for which the movie should be remembered. But the character so strange, I can see how you might find it strained. It would be interesting as I said in connection with The SUn to compare Ganz with Issei Ogata's remarkable performance as Hirohito there.

  2. #17
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    I think the main difference is that Hitler was genuinely frightening and Ganz wasn't at all. Maybe it's the kindness in his face but he did not seem to inhabit the character. Just a personal reaction.
    "They must find it hard, those who have taken authority as truth, rather than truth as authority" Gerald Massey

  3. #18
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    I'm not sure Hitler was frightening up close the way he was in the big rallies. You referred to those back at the beginning. He had a baby-kissing mode he could segue into. Anyway the frightening aspect would be the hardest to capture without going over the top.

  4. #19
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    Originally posted by Chris Knipp
    I'm not sure Hitler was frightening up close the way he was in the big rallies. You referred to those back at the beginning. He had a baby-kissing mode he could segue into. Anyway the frightening aspect would be the hardest to capture without going over the top.
    Perhaps.
    "They must find it hard, those who have taken authority as truth, rather than truth as authority" Gerald Massey

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