Adolf Hitler's grim final days inspired many films. Oliver Hirschbiegel's extraordinary Downfall (2005) has eclipsed workmanlike dramas The Death of Adolf Hitler and Hitler: The Last Ten Days, which couldn't square the issue of humanizing a monstrous dictator. Made for CBS television, George Schaefer's The Bunker (1981) is just boring, marred additionally by oddball casting.It's 1945 and Nazi Germany's defeat is imminent. Adolf Hitler (Anthony Hopkins) refuses to leave Berlin, instead retreating to the Chancellery bunker with his personal entourage. Arminents Minister Albert Speer (Richard Jordan) struggles to reason with the Fuhrer, who's determined to drag Germany into the abyss. Party leaders and generals struggle between personal loyalty, conscience and desire for personal survival. Only Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels (Cliff Gorman) and Hitler's mistress Eva Braun (Susan Blakely) remain devoted as the Soviet noose tightens.
Drawing on James P. O'Donnell's book, The Bunker tries to humanize the Third Reich's meltdown. Hitler retreats into drugs and delusions, directing imaginary armies and chewing out "cowardly" generals. Speer tries to reason with Hitler, ignoring his Nero Decree while plotting a contingency for Hitler's death. Heinrich Himmler (Michael Sheard) plans to negotiate with the Allies; even loyal secretary, Martin Bormann (Michel Lonsdale) contemplates escape. Realizing they're doomed, Hitler's staff retreat into debauchery.
Sadly, The Bunker's flaccid rendering of these conflicts squanders their potential. Understandably, the TV budget allows only fleeting glimpses of besieged Berlin. Characters breathlessly report off-screen Allied advances and Soviet atrocities, yet there's little urgency or desperation. John Gay's script is largely dull exposition, juggling a large cast without developing them. All the familiar episodes are here (Hitler awarding Hitler Youth and savaging his general staff, the gruesome fate of Goebbels' children) with all the polish and energy of dinner theater.
Anthony Hopkins seems inspired casting on paper, yet in practice he's disastrous. Playing Hitler indulges Hopkins' worst impulses, all mannered hamming and preening theatricality. The supporting cast is equally off. Cliff Gorman plays Goebbels like a Warner Bros. gangster; Michel Lonsdale (The Day of the Jackal) and Piper Laurie feel out of place. Richard Jordan (Gettysburg) comes off best, underplaying Speer as a frustrated man of reason, while Susan Blakely's hapless Eva makes a tragic impression.
Like many TV dramas, The Bunker is more dramatization of facts than compelling story. If you can't find Downfall, try reading O'Donnell's book instead.
