Downfall is a powerfully disturbing German film about the final days of Hitler's Third Reich. It depicts the Nazi leader as a man beaten down by the demise of his dream to conquer Europe but stubbornly refusing to surrender. Not only does the despot spout venom about the world's Jewry, but he also feels no compassion for his fellow Germans.

"Compassion is a sign of weakness," he says.

"We have to be cold-blooded. We can't worry about civilians."

A foreign-language-Oscar nominee, Downfall is the first German-made film about that painful chapter of the country's history since 1956's The Last Act.

Narrated from the perspective of Hitler's secretary, Traudl Junge, this is a claustrophobically intense view of the inner workings of the upper echelons of the Nazi regime as well as a stomach-turning look at the horrors of war.

The movie opens late at night in 1942 when Traudl, a naive 22-year-old (Alexandra Maria Lara), gets the secretarial post and is initially thrilled. But she will spend the rest of her days haunted by that appointment. "I was not an enthusiastic Nazi," she says in the film's opening voice-over. The real-life Junge closes the film, documentary-style, admitting, "It's very hard for me to forgive myself."

One is used to seeing Hitler portrayed as a single-minded, megalomaniacal villain, so his gentle treatment of Junge is disconcerting. But the film is partially based upon a book she wrote, and it does make the story more intriguing, if jarring, to see another dimension to one of history's most malevolent figures.

The film jumps forward to April 1945 as the Russians surround Berlin and open fire. The city is reduced to rubble. As Hitler hides in the German chancellery with Eva Braun (Juliane Kohler) and a few other loyalists, a ragtag group of soldiers fight outside. A particularly haunting scene involves Hitler's praise for a ruthless 13-year-old fighter who destroyed two Russian tanks. "I wish my generals had your courage," he says, incongruously pinching the boy's cheek.

With graphic scenes of bullets ripping through bodies, including those of children, Downfall is not for the fainthearted. One of the most chilling moments does not involve Hitler or the SS: Magda Goebbels (Corinna Harfouch), wife of Joseph, methodically poisons each of her six children prior to the couple's murder-suicide.

Hitler is played with pitch-perfect precision by the Swiss-born Bruno Ganz. His portrayal is not only terrifying during his apoplectic rants but also subtly haunting as he bounces one of the Goebbels' children on his knee as they sing a patriotic song.

In a couple of weeks, he seems to age before our eyes while remaining delusional and power-mad. He will go down fighting, even if he's hobbling and hollow-eyed by defeat.

The film is painstaking in its re-creation of the fall of Berlin, with captivating camera work, mostly with handheld equipment, and disconcertedly realistic war scenes. The film's only flaw is its length: just under 2½ hours. But perhaps it is the unsettling nature of the film's seeming authenticity that makes the length so tough to bear. (Source: USA Today)

* “The Jacket” is an entry to the 24th Fajr International Film Festival underway in Tehran. Downfall

Stars: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra, Maria Lara, Corinna Harfouch.

Director: Oliver Hirshbiegel.

Distributor: Newmarket Films.