Latest releases reviewed

DOWNFALL/DER UNTERGANG *****

Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel. Starring Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Corrina Harfouch, Ulrich Matthes, Juliane Kohler, Heino Ferch.15 cert

There is a rare and eerie authenticity about Hirschbiegel's intense recreation of the last 10 days of the Third Reich as Russian troops encroach on Berlin and Adolf Hitler, in an advanced state of mental and physical decay, is too self-deluded to accept the reality of imminent defeat. Ganz plays Hitler in a fascinating, complex portrayal at the core of this chilling, powerful film.

SAHARA *

Directed by Breck Eisner. Starring Matthew McConaughey, Penelope Cruz, Steve Zahn, Lambert Wilson, William H Macy, Lennie James, Delroy Lindo 12 cert

In this risible, formulaic and patronising picture, it takes three white heroes to save the population of Mali from a dictator and a plague. It certainly helps that the Mali army, for all its strength in numbers and masses of artillery, consistently misses the few white foes in its line of fire.