Der Untergang (aka Downfall)

Last night marked the first time in my life where I had assigned seating in a movie theatre, which was made more bizarre by the fact that the theatre was quite empty. I watched Downfall, the account of the last days of Hitler and company during the battle of Berlin. According to Deutsche Welle, the film was controversial in Germany due to its personal portrayl of Hitler - many naturally wish to avoid revealing a human side to the man. However, I found the more intimate portrayl made him appear all the more inhuman. But the film focuses more on Hitler's staff and the ranking members of the Nazi SS, which is actually a far more interesting, and disturbing story. It's easy to right off one man's actions as insanity, but what is troubling is the extent to which others embraced such insanity themselves or, perhaps worse, failed to recognize it altogether. Hitler was responsible for murdering 6 million Jews. Magda Goebbles killed just six people, but they were her own children - killed to save them from a world without National Socialism (easily the movie's most chilling scene). I find both of these atrocities equally disturbing and inexplicable.