13/08/2003

As announced by Cineuropa on 17 April 2003, Oliver Hirschbiegel’s (The Experiment) new feature film, Der Untergang (The Fall), is about to go into production on location in Saint Petersburg in Russia.
Written and produced by Bernd Eichinger for Constantin with €13.5m from the Bavarian Film Fund, this film takes on a special significance because it is based on Joachim Fest’s eponymous novel that was itself based on the diaries kept by Hitler’s secretary, Treidl Junge. She was present in the Berlin bunker in April 1945 and witnessed the fall of the Third Reich and the last moments in the lives of Hitler, Eva Braun and their entourage firsthand.
"This period is not just about the dissolution of a system but reveals the mechanisms and illusions that generated it, " said Eichinger.
"This is the first time I’ve ever worked on such a huge production, " said Hirschbiegel. "But that does not mean I’m any less satisfied with my work. "
The cast of The Fall is headed by Bruno Ganz as Hitler, Juliane Köhler ( Nowhere in Africa [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) as Eva Braun, Ulrich Noeten as Himmler and Ulrich Mattes as propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels.
The set will move to Munich in September and The Fall will be released domestically – by courtesy of Constantin - on 16 September 2004, with EOS Film Entertainment handing international sales.

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(Translated from Italian)