From the sublime ...

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the English love an underdog. Just watch Wimbledon: the 345th ranked Bulgarian outsider will garner far more cheers and support in a match against the No. 1 seed, despite crumbling faster than a very crumbly thing in the fourth set. There can be few England fans who weren't secretly delighted by San Marino's seven-second stunner against England in 1993, a classic case of the underdog striking out bravely. And it's why Tony Blair's continued support for the US provokes so much head-scratching among his subjects: Good god, man, supporting the schoolyard bully? It's just not done!

Please keep this in mind, then, when I tell you how much I enjoyed -- and was moved by -- Downfall, a German film that tells the story of the final few days in Hitler's Berlin bunker in April 1945. It's not that I would change the result, but it certainly plays on the old heartstrings given the inevitable doom of all involved. Told largely through the eyes of one of Hitler's secretaries, a professor/doctor, and the remnants of the Berlin population holding out against the Russians, it features a mesmerizing performance by Bruno Ganz as Hitler. With his delusional, shaking, vegetarian, and animal-loving portrayal, Ganz gives Hitler back -- perhaps unjustly -- his humanity. It's understandable that this caused some controversy on release; it could be seen as sympathetic to the Nazis, but I think that's why so much of Hitler's dialogue focuses on his utter disregard for the people of Germany -- if they lose, it's because they're weak and deserve to lose. It's not a pleasant 149 minutes: multiple graphic suicides and deaths, bloody scenes in the military hospital bunker, limbs everywhere. And I cried, I have to admit, at the part when they put Hitler's dog down with a cyanide tablet. (I can't deal with even fictional animal injury/death: Dead Calm was extremely traumatic in that respect.) But it's hugely impressive and well worth seeing.