February 1943. After distributing anti-Nazi leaflets young Sophie Scholl and her brother Hans are arrested in Munich University. After days of being interrogated by the Gestapo, they are sentenced to death by the Nazi “People’s Court” and executed.

Munich, early 1943. A group of students – Sophie Scholl, her brother Hans, Willi Graf and Alexander Schmorell – are working for the resistance movement “The White Rose”, fighting against the National Socialist regime and the war. In a secret studio they prepare anti-Nazi leaflets, some which they send by post, the rest of which Hans plans to distribute in the university. On 18 February the Scholls enter the university campus and distribute the leaflets. As lectures finish, Sophie pushes a large stack of pamphlets from above, letting them flutter down into the building’s main atrium, now filling up with students. As Sophie and her brother try to leave the building they are stopped by the caretaker who drags them in front of the college dean. A few hours later Hans and Sophie find themselves in separate interrogation rooms in the old Wittelsbacher Palais, the Gestapo headquarters, being grilled about their political activities.

Robert Mohr, an experienced interrogator, threatens Sophie with charges of high treason, aiding the enemy and undermining military morale. In a calm, confident and intelligent manner, Sophie does her best to conceal the truth and very nearly manages to convince Mohr of her innocence. She is issued a discharge certificate but just as she thinks she will be set free, Mohr receives a call that changes everything. Too much incriminating evidence has been found since her arrest, in the form of stamps, typewriters, etc. Christoph Probst, another member of the White Rose has also been taken in for questioning. The evidence piles up and Sophie’s brother eventually cracks under the pressure, prompting Sophie to make a confession herself.

In the course of a series of long, exhausting interrogations, Mohr tries to get to the bottom of Sophie’s activities, to uncover her motives and establish the names of the other members of the group. Displaying great courage and intellect, Sophie defies Mohr, refusing to betray her comrades and remaining true to her ideals. Even when offered a deal that could save her life, she remains steadfast and ultimately signs her confession. On 22 February, Sophie, Hans and Christoph find themselves in the Munich Court of Justice facing the fanatical Chief Magistrate, Roland Freisler. The court is packed with gung-ho Nazi supporters. Christoph, who has three children, makes a last, desperate plea to save himself, with the complete agreement of his two comrades. The defence counsel makes no attempt to lessen the students’ sentence. Hans and Sophie, on the other hand, courageously defend themselves against Freisler’s furious tirade of accusations, causing the Chief Magistrate to lose his composure more than once. At the end of this show trial, the three are sentenced to death – a decision obviously made before the trial had even begun. The sentence is carried out on the same day. Sophie, Hans and Christoph are executed by guillotine, remaining faithful to their beliefs and ideals to the last.

Marc Rothemund’s SOPHIE SCHOLL – THE FINAL DAYS is not the first time the story of the 21-year-old student has made it onto the big screen. Michael Verhoeven’s THE WHITE ROSE and Percy Adlon’s THE LAST FIVE DAYS (both from 1982) also deal with the fated young woman. Unlike the makers of the two earlier films, however, Rothemund and his scriptwriter had the benefit of using documents that were not accessible in the 1980s – the original transcripts of the Gestapo interrogations, locked away in East German archives for decades and only made available in 1990, after the fall of the Berlin Wall. These records demonstrate the strength of Sophie Scholl’s resolve and her impressive defiance towards her interrogator. Despite being an experienced questioner, Mohr is fooled by Sophie’s lies for a long time and at the end even offers her a chance to save herself. Research into his life showed that “he had a son of Sophie’s age, who had been sent to fight on the Eastern front shortly before. Mohr also gained a great deal of respect for Sophie over the three days he spent interrogating her.” (Marc Rothemund).

Shortly before the execution, Mohr appears once again in the background. Despite being a loyal servant of the Nazi regime, he obviously finds little joy in his triumph. During the interrogation, he actually seems to want to understand Sophie Scholl’s point of view, using the standard arguments to defend his own position: Hitler has successfully reversed the hateful Treaty of Versailles, eliminated unemployment and put a halt to inflation; the war is only a step on the path towards “final victory” and a prosperous and happy Germany. Mohr is certainly a far more complex and interesting character than Freisler, who uses the People’s Court as an arena to air his own particular brand of theatrical misanthropy. The actual historical documents suggest Freisler was a much more evil, excessive and hysterical character than the figure portrayed by André Hennickes in the film.

The director and scriptwriter have attempted to give us as true an account of events as possible. Rothemund says “Fred Breinersdorfer and I wanted to focus on the emotional aspect of the story: The characters’ feelings, their attitudes, their conflicts, these are the central themes of the film. […] Our research gave us a good idea of what happened, everything fitted together, like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. We used the historical facts as the basis for our story and then added an emotional level in an attempt to portray the inner turmoil Sophie Scholl must have gone through during her few last days.” This approach saves the film from becoming a purely historical reconstruction of events. The director avoided the use of too many historical props and symbols and did not restrict himself to particular traditional costumes, uniforms or original documents. On one occasion, one of Nazi propaganda minister Goebbels’ legendary speeches is playing in the background, so faintly, however, that it can barely be heard. As Rothemund explains: “I don’t want to give an historical account of events. My aim is to examine issues which are still relevant today. What do people do when confronted with injustice? Will they go so far as to risk their lives? Wars are being waged and dictatorships still exist all over the world […] but sticking to one’s principles is a part of everyday life. […] Fighting injustice, not looking the other way – these are issues that concern all of us today. I didn’t want the viewers to feel like they were being given a history lesson.”

Julia Jentsch and Marc Rothemund tried to move away way from the image of Sophie Scholl as an inaccessible, almost otherworldly heroine and paint a true-to-life picture of a young student with zest for life. However, the main question still remains unanswered: What made this young woman, who once joined the Bund Deutscher Mädel (the Nazi organisation for young women) so courageous and clear-sighted? Was it the influence of her parents? If this were the case there would have been many other examples of student resistance. Can it be explained by her religious beliefs? This too is unlikely. Many practising Christians collaborated with the Nazis. Did the horrific tales of life on the Eastern front from her brother and his friends give her the strength to resist? In 1943, after the Battle of Stalingrad, these stories were common knowledge. The film does not offer any definitive answers. Sophie Scholl, who hid her fear and desperation from friends and enemies alike, remains an enigma; reminiscent in some ways of Joan of Arc. The executioner is reported to have said that he had never seen anyone walk to her death with as much composure as Sophie Scholl. The Nazis seem to almost have feared Sophie and her comrades, perhaps recognizing that they were faced with something stronger than their own brutality.

Note: In 2005 Fred Breinersdorfer’s screenplay was published in paperback by Fischer along with numerous documents (among others, the transcripts from the interrogations of Sophie and Hans Scholl, Christoph Probst and Alexander Schmorell) and the story “The White Rose”.

Hans Günther Pflaum

Production Country

Germany (DE)

Production Period

2004

Production Year

2005

color

color

Aspect Ratio

1:1,85

Duration

Feature-Length Film (61+ Min.)

Type

Feature Film

Genre

Drama

Topic

Justice, Violence, Social Engagement, National Socialism

Target Group

Youth film (12-17)

Available Media

DVD, 35mm

Original Version

German (de)

DVD

Subtitles

English (en), Spanish (es), French (fr), Italian (it), Portuguese (Brazil) (pt), Russian (ru), Indonesisch (id), Arabic (ar), Chinese (zh), Japanese (ja)

Note on the Format

PASCH KINO DVD mit Extra CD Rom Didaktisierung verfügbar in den folgenden UT Fassungen: arabisch, bahasa indonesisch, chinesisch, englisch, französisch, portugiesisch, russisch, spanisch.

35mm

Subtitles

English (en), Spanish (es), French (fr)

Note on the Format

Englisch untertitelte 35mm Kopie 2x vorhanden