Disappointment for a huge fan!

A Major Disappointment

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

It seems almost -- almost -- unfair to judge "The Fall of Berlin" as a film. It's a piece of Soviet state propaganda that doesn't really try to masquerade as a film. Soviet cinema wasn't always straight propaganda, of course, and most films I've seen from the Soviet era had mostly ambitions that were artistic of entertaining. This is the exception. It's all about Stalin and the Soviet state (as one), and this results in a simply ridiculous film. Stalin was, it has been said, supposed to be a man that a Soviet citizen both feared and loved with all his heart, and this film bears that out. When our hero-factory-worker-soldier Alexei meets him in an early scene he is petrified for not knowing what to say. And Stalin the all-knowing ends up miraculously solving his love life.That love life is a wooden and perfunctory set of scenes that are also, of course, as much about Stalin as anything. They theoretically serve to get a blank hero a motivation for going to battle, and then the rest of the film meanders between scenes of battles and heads of the two sides of the war talking. Stalin appears a lot, but not too much. He's a man-god, and if we see too much of the man-god, the polish wears off. He's played as an infallible (apart from the odd decision of doing his gardening in a bright white jacket) and imperturbable being, and by an actor covered in so much make-up that he seems to be made of wax. In general, actors who look quite a lot like their real-world (I hesitate to say "historical" since the film was made so soon after the events it describes) counterparts have been found, but they aren't necessarily good or given anything halfway believable to say. Hitler is given a lot of screen-time, and he's portrayed as a shouting, raving, rabid, loony, nut-ball. It might be the most hilariously hammy, scene-chewing performances I've ever seen. Hitler was certainly no model of reason and rationality in real life, but if he'd actually behaved like this he would have been immediately been thrown in an insane asylum instead of being put in charge of Germany. The idea is to contrast the emotional ravings of Hitler's leadership with the calm inspiration of Stalin's -- and they over-egged the pudding the point where it was mostly just eggs. In favor of the film, it does look spectacular, and there are some inspired shots and photography. It's clear no expense has been spared, and the scenes in Berlin at the end seem quite convincing. The scenes of Hitler rolling his eyes while taking part in a crazed wedding with Eva as the Wedding March plays and he deliberately orders his own people drowned in the subways (well, he is literally Hitler) does end up being quite dramatic. The score is by the great Dmitri Shostakovich, and even when in his mode of being sarcastically subservient to the Soviet musical establishment (as here) and writing elaborated fanfares rather than pushing formal and musical limits, his music is always fascinating and worthwhile. The dialog is mostly unremittingly stupid, but there is a nice moment where Churchill proposes a toast to the King, Stalin professes a distaste for monarchy, and Roosevelt instead proposes one to the heath of Kalinin, the Soviet version of a nominal head of state who was really just a figurehead. When Khrushchev denounced Stalin's cult of personality after his death, very few hesitated to sigh and denounce it with him. I suspect part of the reason was that it was built on a combination of fear and artifacts like this film, which no thinking person could find even slightly believable. It's interesting as a historical artifact, amusing for it's woodenness, and admirable basically only for some of its visual elements.

One must accept this film as extremely political because of the time period it was produced(Cold war era)1949.Making fun of the Nazis in motion pictures was a game both sides of the Iron curtain played.In this movie the tactic of depicting them as mentally crazed by using actors that match their historical counterparts in "looks" works pretty well in the make believe category!! Indeed most of the leaders portrayed here are reminiscent of their true life counterparts for example Stalin,Molotov,Goering,Zhukov,Hitler(GEEEE I wish I had Mr V.Savelyev to play me a fuhrer in a more honest depiction because this guy really does have his appearance),the intention of their "look alike ness" being to rub in the victorious Soviet view at the time by making the events and people seem factual.For example,the idea of introducing an Englishman named "Bedstone" organizing deals with Goering is pure Communist fantasy,the idea of this scene being to show us a heartless "Western power" collaborating with the Reich in their common ideological struggle against Bolshevism,not true,just another Russian excuse for opposing the "Capatilist Imperialists".But OK being an Soviet propaganda movie made for Stalins birthday we must not judge it the way we should a modern/honest documentary dealing with ww2!!For those buffs out there who like the authentic war gear of the period you'll be pleased when viewing "The fall" as its crawling with it.Romance is also featured in this epic with big guy Aliosha clearing enemy territory by scaring the Nazis back to Berlin using his PPSH mg while searching for his stolen Natasha,giving the viewer all the more reason to cheer for the Reds no matter how much one might dislike them.An pretty love story that meets an happy ending with the defeat of Nazi Germany and the sudden unexpected visit by Stalin The Great(butcher) next to the Reichstag.All in all its a great movie loaded with nice scenes(some laughable),one that made beautiful use of color and lighting.I had the benefit of English subtitles when I watched it on Youtube so gone are the days when Russian seemed such a complicated language!!!!Great film

This monumental film in Agfacolor (ironically a German patent) was shot in 1949 to celebrate Stalin's greatest triumph, the victory over his arch-rival (and former ally) Hitler and the capture of Berlin by the Red Army in April/May 1945. The film's blatant, plump propaganda and hilariously absurd dramaturgy make it a gem of unintentional humor and thus very entertaining to watch, especially if you are aware of the true historical background behind the massive distortions.Stalin, in fact one of history's most feared and ruthless mass-murderers, appears as some kind of benevolent, peace-loving demi-god all dressed in a white gala uniform, who never loses his temper, is always in control of the situation and stays at the same time a wise and likable grand-daddy who despite his infallible greatness has not lost his touch with the common people, who of course idolize him like crazy. In comparison to him Churchill and Roosevelt look like senile and disoriented losers, while Hitler is being portrayed as a raving cartoon maniac straight out of THE GREAT DICTATOR.The other characters which are supposed to be "common Russian people" are nothing more but schematic cardboard stereotypes following the ideals of the communist-stalinist doctrine with unflinching enthusiasm and no real life of their own. German civilians appear only briefly in the end of the film, finally condemning their Führer. Not shown of course are the atrocities committed by the Red Army as they entered Berlin, especially the mass rapes of women and girls of all ages; Jewish victims of Hitler are curiously not mentioned at all, and neither is of course the Sowjetunion's decisive part in causing the outbreak and escalation of WWII. Mixed up in this is a kitschy love story with loads of unbelievable plot points (the hero does not only kiss the heroine for the first time exactly when the Germans invade completely out of the - literal - blue, he also rescues her from a concentration camp AND meets her again in the victorious crowd in the streets of Berlin).The film may also have the distinction of being the very first in the "Hitler's Last Days in the Bunker"-Subgenre. Others to follow were G. W. Pabst's DER LETZTE AKT (1955), Hitler: THE LAST TEN DAYS (1973), THE BUNKER (1981), 100 JAHRE ADOLF Hitler - DIE LETZTE STUNDE IM FÜHRERBUNKER (1989) and DOWNFALL (2004). Notable is also the wonderful score by Shostakovitch, a great artist serving once again the totalitarian lie. Of course, beyond the campy propaganda fun the underlying immense tragedy of the incredibly atrocious Soviet-German-War should always be kept in mind when watching.

I had the privilege of seeing the unreleased (as of this writing) DVD containing a restoration of the film utilizing the original negative. While the restoration isn't pristine (some scratches still appear), it manages to restore and maintain the coloration of the German Agfacolor stock that was used. Check out the comparison between the original and the restoration in the special features. The total film is 151 minutes long, split into two parts but I really didn't feel it bogged down too much. It is in Russian but has English subtitles. There is some good outdoor cinematography especially in the scene that represents Germany's invasion of Russia, though most of the interior work is rather stilted with a few shots that show brilliance for its time period.The score is brilliantly done by Dimitri Shostakovich befitting the epic scope that is presented.As revisionist propaganda, this film was created as a valentine to Stalin for his 70th birthday presenting the Russian side of World War II and Stalin's steadfastness.For the most part though, the propaganda in the film is rather subtle in its views of the Allies, but blistering in its portrayals of Hitler, Gehring and Goebbels. Hilter is presented from the very beginning as a man who has already gone off the deep end (which I'm not sure is inaccurate). Though I must admit that it appears that the filmmaker was attempting to show that the British and the Americans did not care enough about the Russian front which was Stalin's view of their behavior in the war.There is a framing device that drives the "story" along in a romance between a Russian steelworker and a Russian teacher. When the Nazi's invade, she is captured and taken to a camp and he joins the fight so that he can find her. We follow him through the major battles though the time line skips the negative parts of the war for the Russians and presents primarily their victories. He manages to be at every one including the Fall of Berlin which ends the film. Of course there is a happy ending as if there is any doubt about it. It appears that Russians of that time period used cliché story lines as much as Hollywood.Most of the actors look creepily like the historical figures they are except the actor playing FDR. He was shown looking fairly frail which is not the image that we have of him in the US. The actor playing Stalin in the film had portrayed him in Russian films since 1939 and would continue to play Stalin in all but one of his films after this one. He is a dead ringer with Stalin's mannerisms down pat.I have to admit that there were times that I laughed, especially at the portrayal of Hitler. The performance was so over the top at times that I half expected him to pull out some mustard to go with his scenery chewing.Of course, being a propaganda film, the facts are skewed to favor Stalin and the Russians and even twisted to some degree. The Yalta meeting is a good example of that. There is also dramatized scene of Stalin arriving in Berlin to great acclaim that did not actually happen.Overall it is a rarity that is interesting to film and WWII buffs who would like to see what the Russians thought of the US and the rest of world. I've watched many propaganda films through the years (both American and Eastern Bloc) but this one is truly epic in scope. When this is released, I would recommend if you are interested in the subject to pick it up.