Hitler web craze goes viral

There's a new craze on YouTube which involves adding spoof English subtitles to a scene from Downfall, a 2004 German film about Hitler's last days. It may all sound in bad taste but the results can be hilarious (see below). The Observer had an article about the subject last Sunday:

The scene is Adolf Hitler's bunker. The Führer stares at a map, surrounded by fearful generals. As they deliver bad news, he removes his spectacles with a trembling hand, the fury rising in him like a volcano. Speaking guttural German, his unkempt hair flopping over his forehead, Hitler explodes in a hysterical rage about Cristiano Ronaldo leaving Manchester United. Or about his crushing defeat in the Glasgow East byelection. Or about his stolen car, his Xbox Live console, or just about anything else you can imagine.

These are the improbable scenarios sweeping YouTube and other video sharing sites on the web. In clips typically lasting about four minutes, the pictures and sound are from Downfall, the hit 2004 German film about the last days of Hitler, played by Bruno Ganz. But the subtitles bear no relation to what is being said. Instead they have been rewritten, and carefully synchronised to the action, by internet jokers evidently with time on their hands. And what started as a one-off gag has now been repeated again and again over hundreds of different subjects. Downfall spoofs are now running riot over the web, lampooning politicians, footballers, even Hitler himself. Read full article >>

To find similar videos just search for 'downfall + Hitler' on YouTube.

Lesson idea: Get your students to subtitle other foreign language film clips in English. See here for instructions on how to subtitle YouTube clips.

Warning: This video contain BAD language! You have been warned! (And I'm not talking about the spelling of "whose" as "who's"!)