The true story of Germany’s most famous anti-Nazi heroine is brought to thrilling life in the multi-award winning drama SOPHIE SCHOLL-THE FINAL DAYS. Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film of 2005, SOPHIE SCHOLL stars Julia Jentsch in a luminous performance as the young coed-turned-fearless activist. Armed with long-buried historical records of her incarceration, director Marc Rothemund expertly re-creates the last six days of Sophie Scholl’s life: a heart-stopping journey from arrest to interrogation, trial and sentence.
In 1943, as Hitler continues to wage war across Europe, a group of college students mount an underground resistance movement in Munich. Dedicated expressly to the downfall of the monolithic Third Reich war machine, they call themselves the White Rose. One of its few female members, Sophie Scholl is captured during a dangerous mission to distribute pamphlets on campus with her brother Hans. Unwavering in her convictions and loyalty to the White Rose, her cross-examination by the Gestapo quickly escalates into a searing test of wills as Scholl delivers a passionate call to freedom and personal responsibility that is both haunting and timeless.
I’m gonna watch this tonite!
This film is remarkable in how it manages to be very accurately detailed and also very expressive and poignant. The historical detail never bogs down the narrative. This is due to the character of Sophie (who is magnificently played by Julie Jentsch). Scholl was driven by her Christian faith and love of mankind. Her courage and defiance spouts from her faith. She never shows weakness to her persecutors, often infuriating and frustrating them.
This film stands from other films about the Third Reich due to it’s optimistic nature derived from Sophie’s faith. God is omnipresent in this film. There is almost constant sunshine in the film (a rarity for a WWII movie). The defiance, confidence and hopefulness of Hans and Sophie, even as they walk to their deaths, emphasizes the fallible, temporary nature of the Earthly world and the permanence and perfect love of God.
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SOPHIE SCHOLL-THE FINAL DAYS received three Lolas (German Oscars) including the Audience Award and Best Actress Award to Jentsch for her brilliant characterization of the title role. The film also won two Silver Bears for Best Director and Best Actress at the 2005 Berlin International Film Festival.
