MovieChat Forums > Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973) Discussion > Was 'Downfall' a Re-Make of: 'Hitler: T...

Was 'Downfall' a Re-Make of: 'Hitler: The Last Ten Days'?!?.

posted 16 years ago by hallowedgrnd
3 replies | jump to latest

"Downfall" (German: Der Untergang) is a 2004 German / Austrian film depicting the final ten days of Adolf Hitler in his Berlin bunker and Nazi Germany in 1945, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, written by Bernd Eichinger, and based upon the books: "Inside Hitler's Bunker", by historian Joachim Fest; portions of Albert Speer's memoirs; the memoirs of Traudl Junge, one of Hitler's secretaries; "Hitler's Last Days: An Eye-Witness Account", by Gerhardt Boldt; doctor Ernst-Günther Schenck's memoirs; and the memoirs of Siegfried Knappe.

[–] jenoor 13 years ago

Not a remake. Untergang was heavily based on Traudl Junge's diary, while Last Ten Days was a made-to-be-movie screenplay.

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[–] moviegeek71 13 years ago

That's what I was thinking too, as I watched it; however, they are both based around historical facts so the similarities should be a given factor.

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[–] Stanley-6 11 years ago

Hitler: The Last Ten Days was based on the historical record as it existed back in 1973. It was primarily based on a book that had been written by Gerhardt Boldt, a young army officer in the bunker, in the early 70s.

Downfall also drew heavily from the Boldt book, but more so from Traudl Junge's more-recent book, as well as lots of historical information in the former Soviet archives that had only become available after the Cold War ended.

I liked how Downfall was seen from Traudl Junge's point of view. I had seen her interviewed in World at War, and found her stories fascinating. When she was identified as "Secretary to Hitler" I wondered if she ever put that on her resume in the post-war years.