Disturbing yet enthralling

An absolute waste of money

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

In June 2012, "Hitler: The Last Ten Days" was released on DVD in Brazil and I have just watched it. I found it boring and weird, with Adolf Hitler and his high command speaking British English. Alec Guinness is kind of histrionic and seems to be in a theater in London instead of in a German bunker. Eva Braun, performed by Doris Kunstmann, looks like a dull soap opera actress. Maybe the greatest problem is that I have seen this dated movie after watching the magnificent "Der Untergang". My vote is three.Title (Brazil): "Hitler - Os Últimos 10 Dias" ("Hitler: The Last Ten Days")

Alec Guinness's eerie performance as Hitler centers a deeply ironic if sloppy look at the Führer's final hours in his bunker. It's not the film one needs to see for that story (2004's German film "Downfall" stands supreme), but it scores some points with a terrific cast and weird bits of black humor.It's April, 1945, and the Russians are closing in on the Third Reich. Once proclaimed to last 1,000 years, it now appears unlikely to survive the month. As the curtain falls around him, a frustrated Hitler alternates between tirades and tea breaks, even getting married to the hopelessly devoted Eva Braun (Doris Kunstmann).At the outset, we hear Josef Goebbels proclaim Hitler "the only man worthy of (Germany's) tragic grandeur." Guinness's Hitler indeed seems all too content to accept this mantle, preferring to die as long as he isn't alone. He even hands out cyanide pills to his underlings as little "gifts" to speed them on their doom. The point of Ennio De Concini's film, with the aid of newsreel footage, is to show how cowardly these acts really were. Many Germans in 1945 suffered far worse fates for Hitler's mad folly then expiring at a time of their own choosing over cream and cakes.The newsreel sequences, which roll in and out to counterpoint the hollowness in Hitler's claims, push entirely too hard at this point. There's also a major subplot about a young officer named Hoffmann (Simon Ward) who grows disillusioned with the Führer, which doesn't gel into anything interesting as we never see what pushes him to lose his faith. Ward looks alternately supercilious and wooden, clearly at a loss as his character is given little to do.The film scores best with small moments, like an early occasion when Hitler accepts birthday greetings from his staff with hard stares at each man in turn, or later on when Eva leads a ridiculously merry singsong in blackface. Kunstmann gives a solid if ahistorically spirited performance. Eva really loves the guy, but you can see her discomfort as Hitler brags about being unmarried and explains: "Love and devotion to a man are the highest virtues of a woman. Intelligence is not very important."Guinness studied Hitler the speechgiver, and it shows at times, like when he denounces his SS commander Himmler in a loud voice, pressing his hand to his heart a la "Triumph Of The Will." By 1945, one suspects such grand gestures were beyond this drugged-out mental case. It's fun to watch a great actor cut loose, though, however historically inaccurate he may be. Guinness was rarely so outré, perhaps only more as Fagin in "Oliver Twist," and he's fun to watch, as he apparently thought so, too. His resemblance to the real Hitler is startling, however off his performance may sometimes be.The rest of the cast is quite something, too. I counted two James Bond villains, Bond's father-in-law, Sean Connery's ex-wife, Grady from "The Shining," and even Manuel from "Fawlty Towers." Adolfo Celi as Krebs even has the same guy dubbing him here who did his Largo voice in "Thunderball." All do fine work, and De Concini blends them together well, even if their scenes lack the intensity or realism of "Downfall." It's hard to fault "Last Ten Days" for this too much as they were there first, but nothing Guinness does here will make you forget Bruno Ganz in the later film.In the end, the film's message seems to be that Hitler was a bad, bad guy. As a moral point, that's fine, but dramatically you need something more. "The Last Days" delivers something of interest, it's a film of texture and craft, but it fails to rise to the grand scope of the history it presents.

"Hitler: the Last Ten Days" is beyond doubt the best movie ever made about Adolf Hitler's final days. The sets, uniforms and script are exceedingly accurate. I could find only two flaws regarding uniforms. Even the actors bore a remarkable resemblance to the characters they portrayed. I was somewhat disappointed with the casting of Doris Kunstmann as Eva Braun. Doris is far too beautiful. Britt Ekland would have been a much better choice. The exterior scenes, being shot in black and white accentuated the graphic realism outside the bunker as opposed to the color shots of the madness within. Most of the script is based on the writings of Rittmeister Gerhard Boldt (portrayed by Simon Ward as Hauptmann Hoffman). Boldt left the bunker just shortly before Hitler's suicide. The research done for the construction of the sets must have been awesome. Even an old cement mixer viewed in wartime photos is present. The bare concrete walls and luxurious furnishings cast a stark reality of the bunker interior. Regarding performances, Alec Guinness is of course commanding as Hitler. He clearly shows he is concerned about nothing except his place in history and how many followers he can convince to follow his lead of suicide as opposed to surrender. All the other roles, except Eva Braun's are minor as they should be. Goebbels comes across as the eternal lackey, who would rather his children die, than live in a world without Hitler. Bormann's sole concern is consolidating power in the Reich that is soon to be no more. The Generals follow orders as they have for years, and quarrel amongst themselves about who should break the latest bad news to the Fuehrer. All in all the film is quite entertaining and will definitely hold the attention of any history buff.

Truly on the level of "Dr. Strangelove", "Hitler..." details the last 240 hours of Mr. Schicklegruber's life. We see him surrounged by his bug-eyed, fanatical Party people (the liar Goebbles and the piglike Bormann), paralyized Army Fieldmarshalls, the SS schemer Fegelein, and the rest of the army, navy, SS, and air force hangers-on who are mostly young, drunk, and making love to the female staff. For some reason, all shots outside the bunker are monochrome (to represent reality?) while everything within those 60 inch thick walls is in a gauzy technicolor. The action is seen by a young blonde Army officer who arrives to brief his Fuehrer on his General's advance. He is made Gen. Kreb's deputy and hangs on untill the 9th night. Though him we witness the general insanity of Hitler staying on in his mangled capital, the plotting of Hitler's entorage to hide the truth from him, listening to Adolf's interminable stories, etc. In short, you get to see what sort of madness goes on when a country invests absolute leadership in one man. Hitler's rant to his three Army commanders and Bormann is hilarious as we see him scream them against the walls of his war room. Nothing comes out right for the title character, an inverted Chaplin. Hitler walks stiffly, is bag-eyed, and has a semi-useless arm thanks to the 1944 bombplot. All of these aspects, and Hitler's general character, are masterfully acted by Guiness. This film is only depressing if you are a Nazi or a Buchanan supporter; others will cheer when the credits roll. I didn't know smoking was such a central component of the failure of the III Reich...maybe tobacco company execs will use this film in an anti-anti-smoking campaign.