Downfall

Downfall (2004)

7 mistakes - chronological order

(3 votes)

Visible crew/equipment: In the scene where the officers are arguing after their meeting with Hitler you can see a boom microphone towards the top right of the shot. When the men move the boom operators' shadow is visible on the wall to the right of the shot. Taken from the UK Blu-Ray release. (01:28:20)

Factual error: On a number of occasions uniformed Wermacht officers and men are shown saluting Albert Speer. Speer was a civilian and (obviously) not in uniform. Military men do not salute civilians.

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Suggested correction: Speer, in his capacity as Reichsminister of Armaments and Munitions, would have been very recognizable to all Germans at this time and respected. Additionally, no Wehrmacht members actually salute or interact with Speer (by my memory), only Waffen-SS, who would doubtless be more loyal to a senior party member and willing to salute him. More so, if the entry refers to the Hitlergruß, the Hitlergruß was given regardless of rank per National Socialist ideology related to social equality.

One of Speer's many defences at his postwar trial was that he was a civilian, mistrusted by the military and never accorded military courtesies, which included them saluting him.

Continuity mistake: When the message from Göering arrives in the Führerbunker, the signature jumps from one side of the paper to the other. When we first see the machine printing the words "H. Goering, Reichsfeldmarschall", they are on the left side of the paper, as the officer removes the paper from the printer the signature is to the right.

Twotall

Factual error: In the scene where a chemist is preparing a solution to give to Mrs. Goebbels which she uses to kill her six children, the chemist is holding a modern day conical flask with the brand name "Schott" marked on it. Flasks pre-1950's did not have these markings.

Factual error: Traudl Junge originated from Munich, Bavaria. Her accent though is not Bavarian. That she really spoke with a Bavarian accent can be checked in later interviews.

Airborne60

Factual error: Hermann Fegelein is (correctly) addressed as Gruppenführer throughout, but wears the collar patches of an SS Brigadeführer.

Karyn Schmahl

Albert Speer: You must be on stage when the curtain falls.

More quotes from Downfall

Question: Why is this movie parodied online?

Answer: The "Hitler in the bunker" scene is iconic for historical reasons, being something most people understand the significance of. Being subtitled in the film means it's very easy for people to keep the original excellent acting while simply replacing the words onscreen to change the context entirely. It also ends up being a bit self-reinforcing, once people get wind of it as a "template", they then start getting their own ideas. And there's the arguable "Streisand Effect", when the film company issued a wave of copyright takedowns in 2010, a lot of people "retaliated" by making and uploading even more.

Answer: Presumably, due to its popularity.

More questions & answers from Downfall

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