Downfall

I went to see the film Downfall this week. It's the German film about the last days of Hitler. It has been receiving some criticism for presenting Hitler in a too human and sympathetic light. He is seen in casual settings with his secretary, or sitting surrounded by the Goebbel's children, or petting his Alsatian dog, etc. I guess there was a feeling that showing him this way might strengthen the cause of current day Nazi sympathisers. I don’t think so. While it does show him at times in normal almost familial settings, for the most of the time he is delusional marshalling non-existent armies to rescue him in Berlin and ranting about the failures of his Generals and the German People. There is a chilling scene where Frau Goebbels methodically poisons each of her 5 children just so they don’t grow up in a world without National Socialism.

Interestingly when you Google Hitler and Downfall you get a lot of stuff about this film and then you also get Hitler, My Part in his Downfall by Spike Milligan. A very funny book about Spike Milligan’s escapades in the Second World War which I bought when I was in my teens and which I still have on my bookshelf. Spike Milligan was one of the Goons, and in my view one of the funniest people in British Comedy (and you know we have a lot of funny people in British Comedy). I had forgotten that he died back in 2002. He is responsible for such lines as:

- Money can't buy friends, but it can get you a better class of enemy.
- Chopsticks are one of the reasons the Chinese never invented custard.
- Contraceptives should be used on every conceivable occasion.
- All I ask is the chance to prove that money can't make me happy