Rush (2013)

Rush is a simple film that offers much pleasure. The Formula One rivalry between the cocky, sloppy playboy Brit James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and the careful, considered Austrian Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) is brought to life in a noisy, exciting way by Ron Howard, who evokes the 1976 Grand Prix season leading up to the all-important final race. 

Period detail of the 1970s is handled well. There’s a colour filter applied that cleverly makes it look how we seem to remember that decade. Fast edits and low angles bring out the maximum drama in a sport that was often surprisingly dull to watch on TV. Howard has the luxury of cramming in all the good bits and omitting all the tedium.

The two leads are both excellent. Hemsworth’s posh English accent is remarkably convincing given that he later came unstuck with his Nantucket accent for In the Heart of the Sea (also directed by Ron Howard). Especially strong is Alexandra Maria Lara as Lauda’s wife. Rarely has a face been so expressive.

I always enjoy biopics. Even when they don't work, they are usually interesting, but this one really does work – and for both protagonists. That said, a decent documentary of the same events would probably be more fascinating. Only one criticism: James Hunt’s wife, played by Olivia Wilde, has a storyline that just peters out – almost as if a scene was cut by mistake.

Downfall (2004)

Harrowing account of Hitler’s final days in the Berlin bunker at the end of World War II. It’s presented from the perspective of his young secretary – one of the few people in his inner circle who survived, and whose account we are expected to trust.

There’s an appropriately depressing green/grey bleakness to the visuals, and the story is even bleaker. There are many suicides and you also witness a mother poisoning her children. In many ways I regret watching it, however brilliantly it was made.

There’s plenty of moral ambiguity, too. Hitler and his inner circle are humanised (which for many, I’m sure, was controversial), but the film struggles with the same problem as any work of art that tackles these events – how to make sense of something that simply makes no sense.

Bruno Ganz is all too believable as Hitler. Alexandra Maria Lara is perfect as the wide-eyed young Traudl Junge, who ends up working for him. Downfall cannot resolve the moral ambiguity of her seeming to be an innocent who didn’t know what was going on. That's difficult to believe. I’m also not sure it was a wise artistic decision to bookend the film with footage of the real-life Junge talking about what happened. A documentary might have been more successful than this slightly awkward mixture of a reimagining and actual interview footage.