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| Brutal but powerful |
Marc Rothermund (Director) , Sophie Scholl - The Final Days (Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage) (Germany, 2005, 117 minutes. )
Reviewed by: Martyn Lowe
White Rose was the name of a student group in Munich that was engaged in the production of clandestine publications - leaflets that stated that the Nazi dictatorship were losing the war, and showed that it was totally futile to continue the conflict, especially after the horrific loss of German lives at Stalingrad.
The film concentrates on Sophie Scholl and, to a much lesser extent, her brother Hans, who were both leading figures within White Rose. It covers what happened to the pair of them during just a short period in February 1943.
Starting the night before their arrest for distributing leaflets at the University of Munich, it then shows the week-long interrogation of Sophie Scholl, which was followed by Sophie and Hans's show trial and execution.
Much of the film is taken up with the interrogation, in which we learn much about the ideals and workings of White Rose.
The show trial is a harsh confrontation of ideals, and perverted ideals - the ideals and the brutality of the Nazi dictatorship. This is not a film with a happy ending, but it is very powerful one.
It is a film that shows just what it was really like to engage in nonviolent resistance during the Nazi dictatorship. See it!