Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage (2005)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Marc Rothemund

Writer:

Fred Breinersdorfer (writer)

Release Date:

24 February 2005 (Germany)

Genre:

Biography | Crime | Drama | History | War

Tagline:

In 1943, one young woman stood up to the Nazis, her courage made her a legend, this is her story . . .

Plot:

A dramatization of the final days of Sophie Scholl, one of the most famous members of the German World War II anti-Nazi resistance movement, The White Rose.

Plot Keywords:

White Rose | Resistance | Gestapo | Trial | Interrogation

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 16 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Julia Jentsch	...	Sophie Magdalena Scholl
Gerald Alexander Held	...	Robert Mohr (as Alexander Held)
Fabian Hinrichs	...	Hans Scholl
Johanna Gastdorf	...	Else Gebel
André Hennicke	...	Richter Dr. Roland Freisler
Florian Stetter	...	Christoph Probst
Maximilian Brückner	...	Willi Graf
Johannes Suhm	...	Alexander Schmorell
Lilli Jung	...	Gisela Schertling
Klaus Händl	...	Lohner
Petra Kelling	...	Magdalena Scholl
Jörg Hube	...	Robert Scholl
Franz Staber	...	Werner Scholl
Maria Hofstätter	...	Wärterin
Wolfgang Pregler	...	Hausmeister Jakob Schmid

Also Known As:

Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (UK) (original subtitled version) (USA)

Runtime:

120 min | Argentina:117 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-11 | Sweden:7 | Hong Kong:IIA | Singapore:PG | UK:PG | Brazil:16 | Australia:M | Malaysia:U | South Korea:15 | Peru:14 | Germany:12 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich)

Filming Locations:

Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Company:

Broth Film

Trivia:

Some scenes were filmed at the University of Munich, the original location where Sophie and Hans Scholl had been arrested. The square in front of the university's main building is called "Geschwister-Scholl-Platz".

Goofs:

Factual errors: While being locked up in a Munich Gestapo prison cell the night from February 20 to 21 1943, Sophie Scholl and her cell-mate Else witness an allied air raid with flashlight, howling sirens and bursting bombs. In reality no bombs fell on Munich the time between the British attacks of December 22, 1942, and March 8, 1943.

Quotes:

Hans Scholl: Tomorrow, you will be sitting in our places.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage' (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Voiceless

Dramatic Reconstruction of Historical Events

This film is not about the „Weisse Rose" (White Rose) resistance group, nor is it about Sophie Scholl. It sticks very closely to its title, and only deals with the last days of Sophie Scholl. Having staked out such a narrow subject, Marc Rothemund is able to narrate the story in great detail. This allows the use of pauses in the dialogue which add to the credibility and drama. I read the official version of the interrogation before seeing the film, and felt that a very good effort had been made to reconstruct what may have actually happened. I also felt that the atmosphere which the film conveyed to be entirely plausible for that time, which I am not old enough to have lived through. For instance, the characters always seemed to be holding back, and not opening their feelings to each other.

Because the official version of the interrogation was dictated by Robert Mohr, it is certain to contain many gaps, such as the lines of questioning before reaching Sophie Scholl's quoted replies. The film may have tended to be too dramatic in filling those gaps. It was surely too dramatic in showing so many chance encounters in the various corridors. Perhaps this tendency to over-dramatise was necessary to present the otherwise rather dry historical events. At least the final result was almost believable, in contrast to many films about the past, and it was an improvement on earlier films covering the White Rose, simply because so much more has come to light since they were made.

This is one of the best dramatic reconstructions of historical events that I have seen.