Three Good Movies about Germany (in German)

Over the past few months, I've seen some really good foreign films, all of which are in German. So yes, they are subtitled, but if you'd like a good story, you can't go wrong with any of these.

The Lives of Others
Winner of the Oscar for best foreign film of 2006. This is about the "Stasi," the East German secret police that utlized thousands of informants to keep track of just about everyone in the country that was seen as a threat (during the cold war years, a threat was very loosely defined).
This movie tells the story of a Stasi officer and his latest assignment of spying on a playwright and his girlfriend. This isn't Hollywood, so don't expect non-stop action, but it is a very involving story, very well told, and since the movie is in German, gives it a very authentic touch. In fact, I just read that the actor portraying the Stasi officer was in fact kept under surveillance by the Stasi himself from age 16.

Sophie Scholl: The Final Days
Wow, what a woman! I had never heard of her, and her story is certainly one of those sidebar items in the whole of World War II that gets tucked away. Sophie Scholl, her brother, and some other students formed the "White Rose" movement. This was a student-led movement of German college students that wrote and distributed anti-Nazi literature.

Scholl and others get caught distributing the information very early on in the movie (this movie starts quickly and is quite suspenseful early on). The rest of the movie is Scholl's interrogation and trial. In fact, a large chunk of the movie is simply Scholl sitting in front of an officer's desk being interrogated. So, this is a very dialogue heavy movie, but boy is it good. I read that the actual transcripts of Scholl's interrogation and trial were just recently discovered, so what you see on screen is almost verbatim as to what happened.

Justice was swift for those that dared to stand up against Hitler, and you'll see what I mean. But Scholl comes of as one courageous figure. Kinda reminds me of that lone Chinese student standing down the tank in Tianemen Square back in 1989. One lowly student, temporarily bringing a whole evil regime to a momentary standstill.

Downfall
My favorite movie of the three. This is the story of Hitler's last days in the bunker. Yep, you've seen it before, but never like this. I think what really helps is having it in German. Instead of English speaking actors portraying Hitler and his henchmen with fake German accents, you have German actors speaking in the native language. That to me really made a difference.

The opening scene kinda throws you a bit. It shows Hitler interviewing several women to be his next secretary. This isn't Hitler the monster, but Hitler the kind superior (his secretary said he always treated her well). But, never fear, Hitler the paranoid maniac does come out before long, and it is just a fascinating portrayal of what all went on in that bunker. Not all of the German officers were convinced of Hitler's strategy during this time, and while some were committed to fighting to the death, others felt quite differently.

With all the maniacs that ran Germany, the one that comes across as the most icy and cold blooded may be Mrs. Goebbels. If you are not familiar with what she does in her final moments, you'll find out. Forget any other portrayals of Nazi Germany you've seen. This is the real deal and I strongly recommend it.