HOW DOES A FILM BECOME A MEME?

By Ian Long

The Downfall meme is one of the best-known clips on YouTube. 

Which makes it very relevant to my March 27 workshop on writing micro-films (ones that last four minutes or less). 

Great scenes or sequences from features can help us conceive micro-films.  And the skills we learn from micro-films can feed back into long-form narratives. 

In the Downfall clip, a subtitled Hitler harangues his generals about being booked on Ryanair, Elon Musk’s Nazi salute, finding out that there's no Santa - and the fact that people are laughing at his rants on YouTube.

Making variants even got a verb, ‘unterganging,’ from the film’s German title.  New versions seemed to appear daily at one point, and they still get revived at key moments.

Although director Oliver Hirschbiegel enjoyed the parodies, his production company wanted them taken down - which sparked a new wave of unterganging, with Hitler now raging about the deletion of “his clips."

(And if it seems strange to "make a joke of Hitler," it's worth remembering that people were laughing at him even when he was threatening millions of lives; comedy is a vital outlet in all kinds of impossible situations).

But why did a clip from this 2004 German-language historical drama become an internet phenomenon?

The answer comes when we read the clip as a tightly constructed mini-narrative.

Let’s just ​remember where it’s from.

What is Downfall about?

It's April 1945.  Allied forces are advancing on Berlin, and Hitler has taken refuge in the Führerbunker. 

Many people are urging him to make a strategic retreat.  Meanwhile, he pins his hopes on a planned counter-attack led by SS Commander Felix Steiner. 

So “defending the city” is the main issue of the film's first act, 

As the clip begins, Hitler’s generals explain that Berlin is surrounded.  Hitler replies that “Steiner’s assault will bring it under control.”

Fearfully, the generals tell him that Steiner's attack isn’t going to happen: there were no longer enough men to carry it out.

So Hitler's famous explosion of rage isn't about Twitter going down or the poor quality of the new 'Star Trek' film.

It comes with his final realisation that the war is effectively over. 

Where does the ‘meme clip’ come in the film?

It’s the first act turning-point. Which explains its narrative energy.

The clip has a miniature dramatic structure - a beginning, a middle and an end:

1.  The short first mini-act's overarching question - will Steiner’s attack be successful? - quickly generates an answer: it has already failed.  This pushes us into: 

2.  The longer second mini-act, with its new question: how will Hitler react? 

His rant answers this. He diverts all blame for the defeat onto the generals and the army, threatens them with retribution, and presents himself as blameless.

3.  The brief third act: Hitler says he'll stay in Berlin, adding that he'd "rather blow [his] brains out" than leave, explicitly raising the possibility of suicide.

This is the break into Act Two of the larger film.  It arrives relatively late at 41 minutes (but Downfall is a two and a half hour film).

Hitler’s reaction to Steiner’s failure locks him and everyone else in the Bunker into the “suicidal descent” (downfall) which occupies the rest of the story.

So as well as having its own hook, escalation and payoff, ​the clip contains the crucial pivot which moved the larger film into its Second Act.
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Whoever edited it from the original made a pretty inspired choice.

The lessons for writers

Even if you don't want to write a 'memeable' feature sequence, the Downfall parodies show how a well-constructed mini-narrative can take on a life of its own. 

1. Structural economy.  A brief scene can live independently if it contains a clear causal turn (a question, a pivot and a payoff).

Even the most concentrated or seemingly abstract micro-films which make an impact usually contain some kind of beginning, middle and end.

2. Constrained design.  Highly readable acting, a contained setting, a distinct visual frame and a single active voice gives legibility and makes a clip reinterpretable.

3. New technology.  Online tools were now available for untergangers to edit and rework clips, and upload the results to a globally-available platform.

There are other crucial reasons why the meme was so successful. 

But I didn't want to make this blog too long.

Find out much more at the workshop, where we'll watch, analyse and learn from a host of inspiring micro-films, and you'll leave with a portfolio of fresh ideas. 

For more details and to book, click here.


If you can think of more reasons why the clip went viral, or have any other thoughts, add a comment below!