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	26 March 2005 PHOTO DIARY. I caught sight of Greenpeace's Rolling Sunlight truck the other day. Kind of an odd way to spread the word about alternative energy when you have to use an exhaust-spewing diesel truck to deliver solar-heated coffee, no? Anyway, we were driving to Fry's Electronics in Burbank, whose decor departs greatly from your average big box retailer.   Back to main 25 March 2005 MOVIE: THE DOWNFALL (2005). Adolf Hitler whiles away the hours in his underground bunker while Berlin falls just before the end of World War II. Like Hotel Rwanda, this film's subject matter takes precedence above all else; questions of whether it was good or bad just don't seem to fit into the equation. Berlin has finally been breached by Russians and Americans, and its German citizenry fall into panicked states of debauchery, rioting, treason, and unflagging loyalty. At the center of this maelstrom of conflicted emotion sits Hitler, tormented in his bunker by the most maniacal oscillations of all: Germania will rise from the ashes of Berlin; the Fatherland is a farce, brought down by its own dishonor; the citizens deserve to die according to Darwinian laws of survival; but the remainder will fulfill the glory of the Third Reich. Clearly, Downfall aims to paint a gut-wrenching (and shocking, and gruesome) portrait of a deeply flawed empire run by deeply flawed humans. It does it well, allowing Hitler (played with intense perfection by Bruno Ganz) plenty of moments to calmly express his sociopathic logic. But keep in mind: this movie is still an all-out war pic, and not the stage-acted character study I'd hoped for. While no Saving Private Ryan, it has plenty of corpses, spontaneous suicides, and makeshift amputations to cringe at, as well as a huge ensemble cast that expresses the range of emotions as Rome burns: absurdly cruel SS officers stand right next to well-meaning, humanitarian Nazis, waiting to be judged equally. An impossible task, which is precisely the film's point. Most shocking of all was the film's epilogue, which shows the fates of each respective character. Some died in prison, some lived to see the 1990s. Some haven't died yet. The titles end with interview footage shot in 2001 of Hitler's last secretary, a supremely naive woman who apparently had no knowledge of the Holocaust until much later. "It was no excuse to be young," she says, amazed. Just as some members of Unit 721 from the Rape of Nanking still survive today, Nazi Germany's "Downfall Survivors" serve as a reminder that WWII ended only very recently, and its effects haven't dimished even in 2005. It's easier to haul away debris than to tear everything down.   Back to main Archives. 17 August 2003 — 24 August 2003 — 31 August 2003 — 07 September 2003 — 14 September 2003 — 02 November 2003 — 09 November 2003 — 16 November 2003 — 23 November 2003 — 30 November 2003 — 07 December 2003 — 01 February 2004 — 08 February 2004 — 15 February 2004 — 22 February 2004 — 29 February 2004 — 07 March 2004 — 14 March 2004 — 21 March 2004 — 28 March 2004 — 04 April 2004 — 11 April 2004 — 18 April 2004 — 25 April 2004 — 02 May 2004 — 09 May 2004 — 16 May 2004 — 23 May 2004 — 30 May 2004 — 06 June 2004 — 13 June 2004 — 20 June 2004 — 27 June 2004 — 04 July 2004 — 11 July 2004 — 18 July 2004 — 25 July 2004 — 01 August 2004 — 08 August 2004 — 15 August 2004 — 22 August 2004 — 29 August 2004 — 05 September 2004 — 12 September 2004 — 19 September 2004 — 26 September 2004 — 03 October 2004 — 10 October 2004 — 17 October 2004 — 24 October 2004 — 31 October 2004 — 07 November 2004 — 14 November 2004 — 21 November 2004 — 28 November 2004 — 05 December 2004 — 12 December 2004 — 19 December 2004 — 26 December 2004 — 02 January 2005 — 09 January 2005 — 23 January 2005 — 30 January 2005 — 06 February 2005 — 13 February 2005 — 20 February 2005 — 27 February 2005 — 13 March 2005 — 20 March 2005 — 27 March 2005 — 03 April 2005 — 10 April 2005 — 17 April 2005 — 24 April 2005 — 01 May 2005 — 08 May 2005 — 22 May 2005 — 29 May 2005 — 05 June 2005 — 12 June 2005 — 19 June 2005 — 26 June 2005 — 03 July 2005 — 10 July 2005 — 17 July 2005 — 24 July 2005 — 31 July 2005 — 07 August 2005 — 14 August 2005 — 28 August 2005 — 04 September 2005 — 25 September 2005 — 02 October 2005 — 09 October 2005 — 30 October 2005 — 06 November 2005 — 13 November 2005 — 20 November 2005 — 27 November 2005 — 04 December 2005 — 18 December 2005 — 01 January 2006 — 08 January 2006 — 15 January 2006 — 22 January 2006 — 05 February 2006 — 26 February 2006 — 12 March 2006 — 19 March 2006 — 26 March 2006 — 02 April 2006 — 16 April 2006 — 23 April 2006 — 30 April 2006 — 07 May 2006 — 14 May 2006 — 21 May 2006 — 04 June 2006 — 18 June 2006 — 25 June 2006 — 16 July 2006 — 23 July 2006 — 06 August 2006 — 13 August 2006 — 03 September 2006 — 17 September 2006 — 01 October 2006 —