Posted on 09/18/2004 12:18:23 PM PDT by wagglebee
More than 100,000 German filmgoers flocked to see a controversial big-budget movie about Adolf Hitler on its opening night on Thursday.
The Downfall, shown on 400 screens, stars Swiss actor Bruno Ganz as the Nazi leader and sparked debate about portraying Hitler with a human side.
Ex-German Chancellor Helmut Kohl has hailed it as a way for young people to be reminded of the horror of Hitler.
The £9m film's makers said they were happy young and old had gone to watch.
Critics were divided over the film, which details the end of the Third Reich leading up to Hitler's suicide in his bunker on 30 April 1945.
German historian Hans Mommsen said: "Reducing history to stories about people is not suitable for gaining an understanding of the greater historical process."
But British historian and Hitler biographer Ian Kershaw said: "Of all the portrayals of Hitler, this is the first which I found convincing."
The film will be shown throughout continental Europe and in Japan. Producers are also hoping to distribute it in North America and Britain.
How long do you think it will be before the freaks at DU are making jokes like "Starring George Bush!" and so forth?
Then of course we have the KGB agent who is staging his own coupe of Russian democracy being portrayed as a Christian and carrying person.
When dictators get make overs it does make me a little nervous.
...making that CARING person...
Peeple zay zat Hilter vas a bet man, schurr, but he luffed docs unt shildren, blond sherman shildren at least.
About four years ago.
To fixate on Hitler's success as a dictator and mass murderer is to overlook how he failed as a human being.
Except for the last 13 years, Russia has always had some form of dictatorship. It would seem that Putin has determined that the Russian people really don't care for democracy all that much. In this respect he is very similar to Hitler in using a national crisis (granted in Putin's case it is legitimate and not fabricated) to seize power.
Oh, please. Don't fall for that Teutonophobic lie. The rest of Europe has never let Germany forget what the Nazis did, nor has the German government. Germans are made to be ashamed of their ethnicity, their heritage, their land.
And in my opinion, this actually makes them more vulnerable to a resurgence of fascism or neo-Naziism, because without an outlet with which to healthily express patriotism and self-confidence in their identity, young Germans may become resentful. Further, if Germans are forced to tolerate the presence of a large number of third-world immigrants, they may find that they have to join in with the fascists just to avoid becoming dhimmis.
People always point the finger at the Germans, but they're not the only ones. Here in the United States, we have similar problems with the Chicano studies professors and Aztlan separatists (and, to a lesser extend, white supremacists).
"It is my suspicion that many Germans have not entirely disavowed Hitler and his horrific regime."
Just guessing, or do you have some recent and concrete basis for such a contention.
I have recent evidence that islam poses a much greater threat, in the here and now. And should be the item for focus and attention.
FYI I lived in Germany. People today do not wish to follow Hitler, or that Germany of the past. They are capable of moral judgement.
I fear muslims do wish to physically conquer us, and their moral judgements are evil.
I just don't get the same shudder when thinking of Aztlan separatists as I do when thinking of Nazis. I think it might be the history of the two organizations...there are some significant differences.
As much as I abhor Hitler, we should be reminded this man and the Nazis were not from some other planet. They were human beings and they killed other humans. Hitler was a very complex and inconsistent man. Sadly, his legacy lives on today, especially in the Middle East.
I absolutely agree that Islam is the greatest threat to civilization and possibly, in a larger sense, Islamofascism is the gravest threat the world has ever faced. I was merely offering an opinion that many, or perhaps just some, Germans still have a "Teutonic" view of the world and yearn for German domination.
Horrendous,terrible,inhuman,sadistic.....These words do not even scratch the surface of such a thing as the Holocaust.
As many times as I have seen and read of Hitler's atrocities
it never ceases to sicken and shock me.THAT is what all young people should learn,and know,and never forget.History like this should NEVER be forgotten or repeated.
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