Whose Hi/Story Is It? the U.S. Reception of Downfall
Whose Hi/story Is It? The U.S. Reception of Downfall David Bathrick Before I address the U.S. media response to the fi lm Downfall, I would like to mention a methodological problem that I encountered time and again when researching this essay: whether it is possible to speak of reception in purely national terms in this age of globalization, be it a foreign fi lm or any other cultural artifact. Generally speaking, Bernd Eichinger’s large-scale production Downfall can be considered a success in America both fi nancially and critically. On its fi rst weekend alone in New York City it broke box-offi ce records for the small repertory movie theater Film Forum, grossing $24,220, despite its consider- able length, some two and a half hours, and the fact that it was shown in the original with subtitles. Nationally, audience attendance remained unusually high for the following twelve weeks, compared with average fi gures for other German fi lms made for export markets.1 Downfall, which grossed $5,501,940 to the end of October 2005, was an unequivocal box-offi ce hit. One major reason for its success was certainly the content. Adolf Hit- ler, in his capacity as star of the silver screen, has always been a suffi cient This article originally appeared in Das Böse im Blick: Die Gegenwart des Nationalsozialismus im Film, ed. Margrit Frölich, Christian Schneider, and Karsten Visarius (Munich: edition text und kritik, 2007). 1. The only more recent fi lm to earn equivalent revenue was Nirgendwo in Afrika.
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