Downfall (2004)

I really liked Downfall. There's been so much praise heaped onto the film, that it's almost overwhelming to find something terribly original to say. All I can say is that it was a great film. It felt more personal than anything. It paints a fair and accurate picture of Hitler and everybody else portrayed in the film. It feels very intimate for such a grand film. It's not just about Hitler, but about Germany as an entire nation. Even with that, it never feels anything less than truly intimate.

I loved the visuals of the film. The photography is vivid and the set design is incredibly detailed and always presents something interesting to look at, so your eyes won't get bored. There are a few images that will undoubtedly stick with me for quite a while.

Downfall is a look at the desperation of the Nazis, right before the Russian invasion. It's also a look at those who were simply following orders. It's chilling to see how brainwashed these people could get, when you step back to realize. The performances are great all around. The supporters were great, and Alexandra Maria Lara has a great future ahead of her. The film, though, clearly belongs to Bruno Ganz, portraying der Fuhrer himself. At some moments, he's so perfectly in character, that you'd think you were there, watching it all unfold in front of you. His performance is probably the single most responsible factor for bringing the viewer into the film.

I can wholeheartedly recommend Downfall to anybody. A chilling, brutally honest examination of the final days of the Third Reich.

Grey Gardens (1974)

Grey Gardens was a strange documentary, made by Alfred and David Maysles (see also: Salesman and Gimme Shelter). It's a very intimate look into the lives of Edith and Edie Beale, Mother and Daughter, and cousins to Jackie O. They live in a terribly dilapidated mansion in the East Hamptons, all alone, with 8 cats, a few raccoons and a weird teenage(?) boy hired to do what seems to be nothing at all.

The two are probably the worst representations of Mother and Daughter ever captured on film. All Little Edie can talk about is how much she laments having to take care of her Mother for 20 years. All Big Edith can talk about is how much potential her Daughter had and squandered. It's hard to watch in spots, simply because her Mother bashes almost everything Edie does, and yet she seems to take it in stride- I guess she's used to it.

They both seem to be perpetually stuck in the past. Edith used to be a great singer (and still kinda is, from her bed at least) and Edie used to be a dancer and a model of some sort. They still indulge themselves at every chance they get. Edith warbles along to her old records incessantly (yet berates Edie if she tries to do the same). Edie dances all the time, seemingly in a trance, most likely thinking about how the used to do the same thing when she was younger and more beautiful. In some ways, it's a look back to their pasts, and a look at the people they could have been if given another chance at life. But instead, all they do is bicker at one another like an old married couple.