“The Bunker” is not the first nor the last film to focus on the final days of the leader of Nazi Germany but it is an excellent picture. It shows very little of the fighting with the strengths of the movie being both the performances and the writing.

During the final days of WWII, Adolf Hitler (Anthony Hopkins “Silence of the Lambs”, “Remains of the Day”) is hiding out in a bunker in Berlin. He is constantly faced with news of German defeats. He dismisses these reports and remains adamant that ultimate victory is assured. He slowly comes to accept the reality of the situation as the Allied forces close in on the city.

Anthony Hopkins is superb as Hitler. This is a man that looks like he’s becoming weaker by the moment. His aggressive rants to those around him often seem like attempts to convince himself that Germany can still win. There are also great performances from other members of the cast such as Richard Jordan (“Logan’s Run”) as Albert Speer, Cliff Gorman (“Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai”) as Joseph Goebbels and Michael Lonsdale (“Moonraker”) as Martin Bormann. Also, Michael Sheard (“High Road To China”) looks exactly like Heinrich Himmler.

This is a brilliant movie about the hardship of accepting defeat. Hitler and the Nazis are often depicted as powerful and threatening but here, we see them in a more vulnerable state as the Soviets, the British and the rest push through Europe. We see the anti-Semitic and generally hateful ideology that once looked like it was destined to become dominant across the world in its retreat. We of course know how the movie will end but it’s about how we get there. A bunker is not the most exciting place to shoot a movie. However, it allows us to focus on the acting and the dialog as we are away from the noise and spectacle of the combat.