"They lose me right after the bunker scene."
Posted on 02/16/2019 6:23:16 AM PST by Drew68
The Swiss actor died at home in Zurich on Friday night, his management said.
Ganz was well-known in German-language cinema and theatre and also had roles in English-language films including The Reader and The Manchurian Candidate.
His most famous role, however, was as Adolf Hitler in Downfall. One particular scene depicting Hitler in apoplectic fury became a meme and spawned thousands of parodies online.
The film, called Der Untergang in German, told the story of Hitler's final days in his Berlin bunker. It grossed $92m (£71.3m) at box offices around the world when it was released.
t was named winner of the BBC Four World Cinema Award and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but since then it has become almost as famous for a wave of internet parodies of its final scene, poking fun at numerous news events.
A New York Times reviewer called Ganz's performance "intriguing" and "creepily charismatic".
In 2005 Ganz told The Guardian newspaper that he spent four months preparing for the role, studying historical records including a secretly-recorded tape of Hitler and observing people with Parkinson's disease, which he came to believe the dictator had.
But he said: "I cannot claim to understand Hitler. Even the witnesses who had been in the bunker with him were not really able to describe the essence of the man.
"He had no pity, no compassion, no understanding of what the victims of war suffered."
Ganz, the most famous Swiss actor, had a rich and varied career. He played a vampire in Werner Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) and an angel in Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire (1987) and its sequel Faraway, So Close! (1993).
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Haven’t seen Downfall
The first I saw of this was a parody of Clinton finding out obama had scored the nomination, and was astounded by the accuracy and believability of the cast. WAY above par for a political campaign spoof.
Then I found out about the movie and was stunned all over again. Have watched that movie three times since, always captivated by the realism and sardonic humor. (One of the diplomats shows the poison capsule Hitler gave him (IIRC). “Ah, the Fuhrer gave you a final award.” replies the cynic.)
The only scene I fast forward through is where Frau Goebbels poisons the kids. (The actress said that was the hardest part she ever had to do.)
I love the way the officers trade “O Shit!” glances during the classic tirade, and I still get a creepy feeling looking at the guy who plays Goebbels. He REEKS evil.
The Fegelein ones are hillarious.
Poor Thomas Kretschmann, every time he’s in a movie, now everyone will think, “FEGELEIN!”
I can't watch it.
Leb wohl, mein guter Kamerad.
"They lose me right after the bunker scene."
My favorite is:
Adolf Hitler is upset after the Detroit Lions finish 0-16
(nice touch adding the paper bag site gag)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01AvAlIxwQo
In any Hitler parody, bonus points awarded for successfully incorporating the Stalin reference...
The first big Hitler parody to gain traction was in 2008 when Palin was nominated as McCain’s VP pick. From then onward, these videos took like wild fire covering all subject matters (Obama, Trump, Justin Beiber, Cher, Hillary, Sports, etc.).
Sometime in 2011, the company that owned the rights to the film “Downfall” raised a ruckus telling YouTube to pull down all unauthorized videos. The backlash was notable and after some thinking the company realized that this was FREE ADVERTISING of an immense scale!!! The ban was lifted and the notoriety bolstered their DVD/Blue Ray sales. Win-Win for all.
Bummer, love that movie...RIP
Rewatching it today. Free on Amazon Prime.
For some reason, my favorite is the first one that I ever saw - of course can’t find it again. Hitler orders a pizza, and the driver gets lost. At the end he discovers they ordered it from the wrong place because they couldn’t find the phone book.
Hitler rants about how he’s going to nail the phone book to the end table next to the couch. And something about the couch being comfy.
The one about him finding out that the rock group RUSH was quitting was okay. But the part about the excuse that Neil Peart (the drummer) was too worn out to play anymore was really good. “Well maybe if he didn’t drive his motorcycle between concerts going lumpity-lumpity on country roads all day he could have played for another ten years!”
We have so few now with humor or imagination.
Good one
I just had surgery and I’m laughing so hard, it’s about to put me back in the emergency room.
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