Bruno Ganz, who played Hitler in Downfall, dies aged 77
The BBC wrote:
The Swiss actor died at home in Zurich on Friday night, his management said. Ganz was well-known in German-language cinema and theatre and also had roles in English-language films including The Reader and The Manchurian Candidate. His most famous role, however, was as Adolf Hitler in Downfall. One particular scene depicting Hitler in apoplectic fury became a meme and spawned thousands of parodies online. The film, called Der Untergang in German, told the story of Hitler's final days in his Berlin bunker. It grossed $92m (£71.3m) at box offices around the world when it was released.
I know him best from his Hitler Bunker scene from Downfall and all the YouTube parodies thereof. They work so well, obviously, because of how much Ganz put into the role, his four months of preparation and study of films of Hitler and of people with Parkinson's disease.
I'm not sure if Bruno Ganz ever publicly commented about the YouTube parodies. Don't be fooled by yet another parody claiming to be an interview where he comments. It, too, is another parody. Funny, yes, but not what he said:
The director of Downfall finds the parodies quite amusing though:
Oliver Hirschbiegel wrote:
“Someone sends me the links every time there's a new one,” says the director, on the phone from Vienna. “I think I've seen about 145 of them! Of course, I have to put the sound down when I watch. Many times the lines are so funny, I laugh out loud, and I’m laughing about the scene that I staged myself! You couldn't get a better compliment as a director.”
“The point of the film was to kick these terrible people off the throne that made them demons, making them real and their actions into reality,” he says. “I think it's only fair if now it's taken as part of our history, and used for whatever purposes people like.”
“There are new ones popping up every month. These clips are hilarious, I laugh my head off.”
“I think that’s one of the great lessons that we can take from the Jews. The only answer is humour. Humour comes from intelligence and where there is intelligence there is curiosity and if you are curious and asking questions there will not be war. Laughing is the best cure to ensure the evil is kept at bay. These videos – just imagine what Hitler would have said – then you know where you stand.”
Downfall is a great movie. It's all in German, which makes it even better (subtitles of course). He played Hitler better than anyone I've seen in the cinema.
Yeah, that was a pretty good one. I saw a few yesterday that rushed to be the first to cover his death, but this one took its time and produced a better one.
It's nice that he could be such a good sport about all the "Downfall" parodies.
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