Sophie Scholl: Die
letzten Tage (The Final Days)
dir.: Marc Rothemund
A Society Enchained
Among
the many troubling questions that linger from World War II is to what extent the
German people really supported Hitler. By recounting the true story of the
brutal suppression of a small group of students dubbed the White Rose who
distributed leaflets condemning Hitler and the war, Sophie Scholl
suggests that but for the swift and merciless quashing of dissent by the Third
Reich’s police and military, many more Germans would have opposed the fascist
regime.
Whether that is true or not is
debatable – the transfer of power to Hitler was, after all, approved by 90
percent of the German people in a 1934 plebiscite – but Sophie Scholl deserves
recognition as an unflinching portrayal of a shameful episode in a horrific
time. Set in Munich in February 1943, the film is a recreation of the
events leading to the arrest of three members of the White Rose, their brief
incarceration, summary trial for high treason, and execution by beheading.
Scenes of Gestapo interrogations are based on official reports director
Rothemund discovered in the Bundesarchiv, the German government archives.
The story is
told, in straightforward chronological fashion, from the perspective of 21-year-old Sophie Magdalena Scholl, played by Julia Jentsch, a brunette whose
unmade-up, well-proportioned features give her a passing resemblance to Debra
Winger. Jentsch’s calm bearing and steady demeanor lend credibility to
Scholl’s articulate denunciations of the destruction of lives and property and
the atrocities committed in the name of the fatherland. Jentsch gives
Scholl
an unshakable resolve and moral fiber born of absolute courage and conviction.
Undaunted by the stentorian fury of the dictatorial magistrate who pronounces
sentence upon her, Scholl summons a devastating riposte: "You will soon be
standing where we are standing now."
Sophie Scholl’s historically
significant subject matter, authenticity and strong
performances earned it an Oscar nod in 2006 for Best Foreign Language
Film. (It lost to Tsotsi, a worthy competitor.) With its
small cast, closed-in setting and narrow focus, however, Sophie Scholl is
less encompassing and powerful than last year’s Der Untergang (Downfall),
which traced the cataclysmic final days of Hitler’s life and the fall
of Berlin (and in which Julia Jentsch also had a role). Sophie Scholl
is nonetheless a stirring portrait of a hero who sacrificed everything to resist
the evils of Nazism. And like Der Untergang, this film reflects a
laudable willingness on the part of German cinema to face up to the profound
inhumanity of Hitler’s regime, even as it was practiced on the country’s own
citizens. Sophie Scholl puts a human face on what would otherwise
be an obscure historical footnote.
Grade: 8 unconscionable dictatorships out of 10