Hitler: The Last Ten Days
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Movie Reviews of Hitler: The Last Ten Days
Movie Review: the last ten days
Summary: 5 Stars
I think this movie is great,
You can really believe in Alec Gunniss
Movie Review: Guinness' Mesmerizing Interpretation of Hitler
Summary: 3 Stars
Defiantly cast against type, Alec Guinness transforms "Hitler: The Last Ten Days" (1973) into a strangely compelling cinema of the absurd. When considering the claustrophobic madness of those final days in April 1945, director Ennio De Concini's surreal approach works better than expected. Speaking with a grandfatherly British accent, Guinness offers an eccentric yet mesmerizing interpretation of Adolf Hitler - punctuated by striking close-ups that emphasize the German ruler's charismatic evil. Individual sequences evoke the perverse quality of a two-reel comedy, especially Hitler and Eva Braun's suicide pact and its reaction from the Führer's inner circle. Despite its erratic tone and pacing, "The Last Ten Days" is worth seeing for Guinness' admirably off-kilter performance.Movie Review: It looks good but the story is all wrong
Summary: 2 Stars
This film is impressive LOOKING from the visual point of view, it is actually a more realistic looking Bunker than found in the 1981 movie The Bunker or the recent Downfall. However, the Hitler depicted in the film is far too strong and much of the dialogue he uses is more suited to a 1941 or 1942 portrayal of Hitler than one from 1945, the 1945 Hitler had considerably weakened both physically and mentally. At this time Goebbels was the stronger personality which the film fails to show properly.
The film also has false information presented as fact, there was never any government ordered flooding of the Berlin subways in the final days to protect the Bunker from Soviet troop advances. The author who wrote the book the film is based upon, Gerhard Boldt, was not even in the Bunker when this order was supposedly given, but Hitler's bodyguard Otto Gunsche was there and he said this order was never given and therefore Boldt's claim is a lie invented in the early 1970's to pander to the popular anti-Nazi views of the time.
The stupid twist at the end with Eva Braun turning against Hitler before they die is absolutely laughable.
Movie Review: Outdated and Lacking in Subtlety
Summary: 2 Stars
Burdened by old film clips that we've seen millions of times in the past, as well as by stereoptyped portrayals of Hitler and his companions. Hence the viewing experience is essential boring and unexciting, despite the explosiveness of the content. Updated versions of this apocalyptic period give much better and more nuanced portrayals. For example--"Downfall"-- if you can tolerate subtitles.Movie Review: This movie will feel like its 10 days long...
Summary: 1 Stars
Hoo boy ,where to start.
This film is so full of problems that its easier to list the few good things about it than the overwhelming problems that it has.
Good- The period uniforms worn by the Nazi princelings in the film are pretty close to the originals. The cinematography is well done,the sound is clear and the "bunker" set looks reasonably close to what you would imagine it to be. Beyond that...
The bad- I've always had a problem with British actors playing Germans (and especially high Nazi officers). The accents are bizarre ,the mannerisms are all wrong and the overall feel is that of a (really) low rent production.This movie continues that proud tradition. Sir Alec Guinness plays Adolf Hitler here and he's easily the least believable man to play the character of all the "major" productions of this story. ( "Downfall" and "The Bunker" are the other two) If you see these movies in some sort of chronological order ,with this one going first ,it doesn't seem so bad. (Indeed , the producers of Downfall seem to have borrowed liberally from this film) Next , watch "The Bunker" and you will get a better appreciation of just how hard it is for a producer to make this subject compelling.Finally , watch "Downfall" in the original German and you realize that you are viewing the definitive film on the subject, a true masterpiece.
The pacing and narrative of this one are accurate ,but boring,and Guinness alternates between an almost giddy ,silly, gay Hitler and an almost expressionless zombie that really never generates any enthusiasm or rage as his Third Reich is compressed on all sides by his enemies. Indeed ,at times its almost as if Guinness is staring at the other actors speaking their parts as if he is in a trance that is only broken when he has to say some more of his poorly written and implausibly delivered lines. This we know : Hitler was NOT calm , collected and in good humor over the last ten days of his life. At times this movie makes you wonder if Guinness is about to burst into a song (and dance) as he smiles and chuckles and tells little anecdotes to his cardboard cutout supporting cast. He plays other scenes as if he swallowed a quart of Robitussin before the cameras rolled.
Hitlers love interest Eva Braun is played by Doris Kunstmann . Horribly miscast ,she probably didn't put this movie on her resume as she forged a nearly 4 decade career in cinema. In this effort , she appears almost child like and wayyyyyyy too young ( Eva Braun was 33 when she died, Kunstmann was 29 when this film was made and looks about 19) for Guinness (as Hitler) . Her wardrobe for this role looks like she borrowed a few loose odds and ends from a soft core porn production in a nearby studio. Her song and dance number (in blackface !) is not to be missed.
Other casting and narrative gaffes abound. Aviatrix Hanna Reitch is played by Diane Cilento and she too ,evokes fizzy- soda- pop- nose- burning laughter for her portrayal of one of Hitlers most fanatical and psychotic followers. Cilento looks like she was just sent over from that same soft core film referenced earlier... Her makeup and hair actually produced audible giggles when we viewed this film the first time. Perfectly coiffed with a tailored uniform ,the real Reitch never (ever) looked this good.
Man for all nationalities Adolfo Celi plays General Hans Krebs and its hard to tell if his dialog is dubbed.( It's also hard to tell if the producers knew that he is Sicilian) Celi has alternately played just about every ethnic group on earth ( Greek , Italian , Spaniard , German ) I half expect to someday see a film where he pulls off a Penguins head and says " Top o' the marnin' to ya" in an Irish brogue. ( I wouldn't have been shocked if he had done it in this film) Anyway , he is just lost and as out of place as one man can be. As ridiculous as he appears, at least he got a paycheck from this dung heap.
The rest of the cast is a mixture of non entities and never was'es that leave the whole thing just kind of piled up on the floor begging to be thrown out with the trash. The editing suffers from the quaint Italian custom of quick cuts and non sequitor film noir insertions. All in all ,not easy to watch and even harder to fathom.
Questions and inconsistencies characterize this film. Like , where the heck did Albert Speer disappear to ? History buffs know that Speer played a significant role in the final drama in the bunker ,but he seems to have disappeared down the memory hole in this film. He is not mentioned and no character portrays him here. Odd. Likewise Joeseph Goebbels. The " Poison Dwarf" has a mere bit part in this production with just a few lines and almost no screen presence. Perhaps its because the producers wanted to keep Guinness on screen as much as possible to maximize their investment. Hard to say ,but in real life , Goebbels was not a bit player,he was a major part of the regime. Just another pair of minor mysteries that are in keeping with this deeply flawed production.
Summary- IF you can find this film on DVD and IF you can score a copy for a dollar...You will have wasted your dollar. This movie is wretched and unsatisfying. Better to take that dollar and rent Downfall and watch it again than this pile of crap.