Sophie Scholl [Blu-ray]

What a film! I was leery of this movie because I know the brutality that the Gestapo was capable of and I didn't want to see a young woman being a victim of such horror. But thankfully, this film doesn't depict any actual brutality. It focuses on the interrogation of the German anti-Nazi Sophie Scholl by a Gestapo inspector, using actual transcripts from their sessions. Knowing that you're hearing the words of this brave young woman is all the more powerful. The back and forth, battle of wills between these two people with opposing worldviews is amazing to watch. Actress Julia Jentsch does a fantastic job in this film. I love films about true life heroes and this is truly one of the best. From the very first scene when Sophie and a friend are singing along happily in hesitant English to an American jazz record, I was hooked. Right after that the suspense begins. It grabs you and doesn't let go until the dramatic end. Thankfully, the film doesn't ignore the role of Sophie's religious beliefs on her decision to defy the Nazis. She is presented as being motivated by her burgeoning Christian faith. (Sophie was heavily influenced by the writings of Catholic convert John Henry Newman regarding the conscience as being the voice of God within us.)Her free choice is perhaps the greatest argument against a deterministic human nature that dooms us to live as our biology would have us live. Suffering torture and execution as so many of those who defied the Nazis did goes against all instincts toward pleasure and self-preservation. Sophie was not a depressed and hopeless young Nietzschean who was looking for a way out. Nor was she an advanced mystic who had been prepared through years of contemplative prayer to be a martyr. She was just an average young woman who loved music, art and life in general and instead, willingly chose to give all of that up to take a stand against evil. That makes her sacrifice all the more awe-inspiring. The Nazis showed us how monstrous human beings can become when they allow themselves to embrace evil little by little. People like Sophie show us what human beings can become when they embrace the highest good—standing up for truth at all costs.

At last a little known page of Nazi German history, the resistant group The White Rose Society, is portrayed in a film that imbues its documentary report with the engaging elements usually found only in fiction as it recounts the martyrdom of young German students who risk their life for freedom and truth. Of all the films I chose for my university Holocaust Literature course to view, the class appreciated and remembered this one the most. Perhaps their ability to identify with young people their age explains their affinity with Sophie Scholl and her brother, but the impact of the Scholls' integrity, courage, and humility surely impacted them where they are, raising their awareness of responsibilities in today's global politics. I, myself, subscribe to the on-going White Rose Society to stay abreast with their current activities.

“The early believers were not persecuted because the Romans were such bad people. In fact, according to the world’s standards, they were quite decent,” wrote Clarence Jordan. “One wonders why Christians today get off so easily. Is it because unchristian Americans are that much better than unchristian Romans, or is our light so dim that the tormenter can’t see it? What are the things we do that are worth persecuting?”Jordan was one Southerner who confronted the prevailing unchristian–but widely accepted–racism of his own time. Jordan’ words came to mind after viewing “Sophie Scholl–The Final Days.” This 2005 German film, winner of numerous awards, is presented with English subtitles.“White Rose” was the name of the tiny resistance group that sprang up in Nazi Germany from June 1942 until February 1943. Sophie Scholl, her brother Hans, and a few others wrote and surreptitiously distributed six separate leaflets challenging the Third Reich and condemning Hitler’s war. They felt compelled to denounce the totalitarian system they lived under, even opposing their country’s armed forces–something almost suicidally hazardous as well as hugely unpopular.“It is a MORAL DUTY to put an end to this system,” proclaimed one leaflet. “We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will give you no rest.”In their teen years, Sophie and Hans disappointed their parents by joining Nazi youth organizations and participating enthusiastically. Their father was a decent, stubborn, outspoken individualist who ran afoul of the New Order more than once. Their mother was a committed Christian. Over time, Sophie’s and Hans’ enchantment with National Socialism soured, repelled by its anti semitism, enforced conformity, and foreign aggression.Then came the war crimes and genocide, secrets not well kept by German authority. Obedience, even acquiescence, became impossible for these few of the White Rose.These mostly young people–Sophie was but 22, the others not much older–risked everything with their eyes wide open to what was at stake for them personally. “How can we expect righteousness to prevail,” Sophie wrote, “when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause?” Students at Munich University, they were in the city which was the very birthplace of the National Socialist Movement.Sophie and Hans were caught in the act of broadcasting their leaflets inside the University on the morning of February 18, 1943. Co-conspirator Christoph Probst was soon arrested as well. Interrogated by the Gestapo, charged with treason, tried, found guilty, and executed by beheading–the entire process took four days. Other arrests and punishments would come over the following months.Accuracy in details and dialog make this film especially riveting. For the most part, the villains are not “Hollywood Nazis”; they come across as far more chilling without embellishment, sui generis. Sophie’s interrogation by agent Robert Mohr is virtually word-for-word, though of course condensed (the Staatspolizei kept meticulous transcripts). The antics of Roland Freisler, President of the People's Court, looks like a newsreel come to life. Even top hats worn by the stony-faced executioners are a genuine touch.Sophie Scholl and her compatriots were not saying what most other Germans were thinking but merely afraid to express. That would be too facile, too comfortable, and would miss an important point. The very day of their arrest, Joseph Goebbels made the greatest speech of his career in Berlin’s Sportpalast, calling (post-Stalingrad) for “total war.” Goebbels’ asked, “Do you agree that anyone who goes against the war effort in any way should pay for it with his head?” His audience of 15,ooo screamed approval. Millions of patriotic Germans wholeheartedly agreed, fighting on for over two more years.Today there are remembrances of Sophie and the White Rose all over Germany, and that’s as it should be. But opposing this particular evil isn’t costly anymore; that was another generation’s battle.Without explicit intention, “Sophie Scholl–The Final Days” truly is a Christian film, far more compelling than most of that genre. This story has the authenticity that “faith-based” movies so often lack; as in real life, the good guys don’t always win, everybody doesn’t get saved in the final fifteen minutes. Christ-followers are called to be light and salt, radically different from society’s norms, obedient even when there’s great cost involved. Indeed, God may call some to martyrdom.

Watch and wonder why some resisted (even when resisting usually meant death) .... and why some didn't. Tyranny doesn't appear overnight, it doesn't just suddenly happen. It seeps into society bit by bit, as you tend to your daily life. Maybe you'll see a red flag here and there as you go to work, school, take care of your family, etc. But before you know what's happened, it's arrived and freedom is gone.

A well-made film telling of the "White Rose Group", a student group which published and distributed anti-war and anti-NSDAP leaflets in Germany.The Scholl's were at the heart of this secret group and paid the price with their lives.Well written and well acted, worth watching to think of those who did protest, brave, naive, foolhardy, innocent, brave how many of us would do the same.next time you are in Germany and you see a small brass plate on the ground look at it .......people like the Scholl's are not forgotten.

I don’t speak GermainAll the actors are convincing,The actress’s playing Sophie, & Actors Playing the integrator, and judge where brilliantHowever this gave me a different perspectiveThis is a beautiful film, showing Sophie last few days of her lifeFrom her arrestsThe integration is well played, with Sophie & her interrogatorThe count seen, is brilliant played by the judge, who show his hate & contempt for Sophie & her brother, plus therother white roseI wish there was a English language version, but it still a great filmThe white rose group where young Germain s who stood up to hitlerThank you to the film makers

My wife is a history teacher and she gets excited about historical films which don't always appeal to everyone. This is not one of those films.If you are interested in learning some real German WWII history, from a German perspective, then watch this film.The film follows the life of a German girl and her friends who attempt to undermine the Nazi government and the consequences of their actions.This is not Valkyrie, it is not the typical 'noble struggle' movie about goodies and baddies. It offers true insight into the feelings of youth under the Third Reich through a personal, and very much factual story.

It was only after I had finished watching this wonderful film that I realised I had watched a stage play that never was. It also explains why I give it five rather than four stars. It seemed sanitised; Sophie didn't look grubby nor did the young men look other than clean shaven, the cell seemed comfortable, the treatment the accused received was unexceptional. All this would have been likely on stage.There were also few scenes; a scene in Sophie's flat, one in the interview room, another in her cell, and a final one in court would have sufficed.And it is the dialogue and its delivery that makes the film. It is an argument of state control versus individual liberty, each side expressed with eloquence and passion.It could have been a sad and depressing film; instead it was uplifting.

This film, which came from the same studio as "Untergang", tells one of the most moving and underappreciated stories of the twentieth century, the capture and execution of the Munich students of the White Rose movement. It's more than a story about resistance, it's a story about how we all give way to fear of public opinion and about the courage it takes to stand against the enemy when the enemy is all around you rather than somewhere "out there". And what I really liked about this film is that it tried to tell that story truthfully rather than just turn it into a tale of black and white. The performances are just incredible, particularly Sophie Scholl and Robert Mohr, but also the actor who played Roland Freisler, the half insane chief justice of Hitler's court, these kinds of committed performances in a film which recounts painful history are beautiful to watch.