Sophie Scholl - The Last days

Mark7

Mark7

The Living Force
FOTCM Member
I have always liked German Language movies because of their quirky humor, but "Sophie Scholl - Die Letzten Tagen", (-the last days). Provides, instead of humor, a crisis in conscience.
Nominated for a 2005 Academy Award for best foreign language film and directed by Marc Rothemund, the film tells the true story of the "White Rose" - the WWII German anti-nazi resistance movement. Julia Jentsch gives a transparent and heartfelt portrayal of Sophie Scholl.

Comparisons between the 'war footing' of the Nazis then with the Zionist/neo-cons propaganda now are not too hard to make. What really made the movie worth watching for me was the portrayal of the moral integrity of Sophie Scholl and her friends in the movement. When given opportunities to mitigate her punishment by implicating others in the White Rose, Sophie instead takes full responsibility for her actions and covers others who are at risk of prosecution by the Nazi Kangaroo court.

The court scene is gut-wrenching. A short film clip of the actual trial, along with interviews of eye-witnesses and family members are available extras.

This can be a hard film to watch but I recommend it - subtitles and all.
 
Was there a documentary on the white rose movement ? It rings a very familiar ring, I remember watching a film about this.
 
Michael Verhoeven directed a 1982 film version of the story called "The White Rose", which was apparently very influential, the film was not a documentary and I haven't seen it. I know of no major documentaries on the White Rose but there is plenty of information and media about the subject on the internet.
 
I agree with Dippy Dog's opinion. I thought Sophie to be an exemplar of integrity. I found the other cameo roles brilliantly acted with powerful understatement. One scene that was [for me] climatic was where Sophie challenged her initial interrogator that conscience was the ONLY determiner of one's actions. In a later scene, it was subtly but clearly reflected that Sophie's words had "hit home" even though the interrogator was not going to compromise his security/comparative safety. In all a fine and spare film.
 
I just watched this film and it was really quite extraordinary. There were several scenes in the movie where what Sophie was speaking could have come out of the mouth of any of the regular members of this forum. It also has a powerful portrayal of psychopaths crusading for Nazi Germany, characteropaths going along and loving it, and normal people showing glimpses of their humanity in impossible situations.

It is really very much worth the watch - it made me wonder how many of us could find ourselves in her position. I don't want to spoil it, but I'll just say that decisions were made on her part that could have been made differently to allow her to continue to fight the good fight - yet - I never found myself sincerely thinking that those different decisions SHOULD have been made. I am VERY glad I happened to rent this film - highly recommended.
 
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days

scholl_intro.jpg


http://www.sophieschollmovie.com/

Sophie Scholl: The Final Days is the moving portrait of one of the few heroines in German history. The film depicts the last six days (17-22 February 1943) in the life of Sophie Scholl from her own perspective: that of a courageous and vibrant young woman who is willing to face death for her belief in the ideals of the White Rose. Through their resistance and protest against the Nazi regime, Sophie Scholl and her fellow members of the White Rose resistance group have become synonymous with civil courage and a peaceful struggle against the rule of violence and oppression.
Although the film follows the historical facts as closely and faithfully as possible (using the original interrogation records), it has been written and directed as a feature film. Taking a sensitive and refreshingly open-minded view of history, young director Marc Rothemund re-awakens the now virtually mythical, iconic figure of Sophie Scholl.
 
Darek, your post was merged with the already existing Sophie Scholl thread - please use the search function before posting a new thread since chances are a thread already exists.
 
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