Personally, I think it was Bruno Ganz’s take on Adolf Hitler that takes the win:
Most actors that played Hitler turned him into this caricature of evil, a character who seems almost demonic and vicious, without any human qualities.
Sadly for us, Adolf Hitler was very much a human being. And that’s what Downfall shows us perfectly. Hitler at his lowest point, a Fuhrer that commands but has no armies left, a dictator with no cards left to play, a tyrant at his most vulnerable.
We see the shadows of charisma that once captured the hearts of so many, but also the madness and frustration that takes over. We see his hands tremble, we see him with his secretaries, with his closest associates in his most private moments. Bruno Ganz delivered a nuanced performance of a very evil man, reminding us that after all Adolf Hitler was a human being that should come as a warning to us all.
I feel that Kenneth Branagh’s portrayal of Reinhard Heydrich was also fairly accurate in the film Conspiracy. A suave, icy character with a ruthless and pragmatic approach to the most horrifying Final solution, Branagh said he spent many sleepless nights while playing this character.
Cheers.