88 DOWNFALL [GerMAn: DER UNTERGANG]
survived for two more years, building an entire refugee city in a push for survival.
The film ends with photo graphs of the real Bielski brothers and details their life
histories. Original photo graphs of the real- life persons are shown, including Tuvia
in his Polish Army uniform, and their ultimate fates are shared: Asael joined the
Soviet Army and was soon killed in action, never getting to see the child he fathered;
and Tuvia, Zus, and Aron survived the war and emigrated to Amer i ca to form a
successful trucking firm in New York City.Reception
During its 17 weeks (16 January to 30 April 2009) in wide release in the United
States, Defiance earned $28.6 million at the box office. Foreign box office receipts
came in at $22.5 million. Ultimately, Defiance made $51.5 million— almost
$20 million more than its production budget— but with marketing costs (now
usually about 50% of production costs) added in, net profits were prob ably a modest
$5 million or less. Along with a mediocre box office showing, Defiance was met
with mixed reviews from film critics. Typically ambivalent was Peter Rainer. On
the one hand he praised the film “as a piece of historical redress” that does “a great
ser vice... in bringing this narrative to the screen.” On the other hand, Rainer
found Defiance excessively didactic in tone: “Too much is spelled out for us; too
many speeches have a stentorian heft. Do we really need to hear Tuvia announce,
Moses- like, that his communal goal is to ‘live free, like human beings, for as long
as we can’?” (Rainer, 17 January 2009).Reel History Versus Real History
Belarusian critics noted a lack of Belarusian language within the film and also noted
that whereas the Soviet partisans in the movie sing a “Belarusian” folk song, real
partisan soldiers from that area would’ve been more likely to sing Rus sian ballads.
In addition, some Soviet partisan veterans claimed that the film contained a num-
ber of historical inaccuracies. Some reviews, as in Poland, criticized the film for
ignoring the Bielski partisans’ crimes against the local population. In one scene it
is stated that there may be an epidemic of typhus and that ampicillin was needed.
The action takes place approximately 17 years before this drug was available.DOWNFALL [GERMAN: DER UNTERGANG] (2004)
Synopsis
Downfall is a German- , Italian- , and Austrian- funded war drama depicting the
bizarre final 10 days in the life of Adolf Hitler (played by Bruno Ganz), hunkered
down in his Berlin Führerbunker in late April 1945 as the Red Army closes in to
seal his doom. Based on several eyewitness histories, the film was written and pro-
duced by Bernd Eichinger and directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel.Background
Having produced Hans- Jürgen Syberberg’s seven- hour visionary epic, Hitler- ein Film
aus Deutschland [Hitler: A Film from Germany] (1977), Bernd Eichinger had long