"Sophie Scholl : the final days" is a German film about a 21-year-old student who was a member of a tiny anti-Nazi group, The White Rose. Sophie and her older brother, Hans, are caught distributing leaflets in an atrium at the University of Munich and are arrested. The movie is a thriller even though the outcome is known -- she and her brother are executed, with deliberate speed, you could say. The score is impressive and adds to the tension. A fabulous use of percussion.
Perhaps it was because events unfolded incredibly fast -- from deed to death within five days -- that Sophie is able to keep her composure and her convictions. There was absolutely no chance the tribunal she faced was going to do anything but convict her, Hans and their colleague Christoph and we all know it from the get-go. She dies with her head held high, not an easy task when the executioner uses a guillotine.
The courtroom scene is an education. The presiding maniac is Roland Freisler and lest you think the actor's approach is unreal, watch the DVD extra that has a clip of the actual Freisler in action. The actor nailed it. Sophie tells the tribunal that someday they will be on the stand facing charges themselves and you can hope. Too bad about Freisler. He was killed in a bombing raid on February 3, 1945, two years after Sophie and the others were martyred.
For some reason, Sophie and Hans' situation put me in mind of Aldo Moro. He was the Italian Prime Minister who was kidnapped by the Red Brigade and held for 54 days before he was murdered. I don't know if his nation remembers him as a martyr. I just remember the news reports that he was pleading for his life and in one of his newspaper columns William F. Buckley said Moro should face his situation like a man and get ready to meet his maker.
Perhaps it was because events unfolded incredibly fast -- from deed to death within five days -- that Sophie is able to keep her composure and her convictions. There was absolutely no chance the tribunal she faced was going to do anything but convict her, Hans and their colleague Christoph and we all know it from the get-go. She dies with her head held high, not an easy task when the executioner uses a guillotine.
The courtroom scene is an education. The presiding maniac is Roland Freisler and lest you think the actor's approach is unreal, watch the DVD extra that has a clip of the actual Freisler in action. The actor nailed it. Sophie tells the tribunal that someday they will be on the stand facing charges themselves and you can hope. Too bad about Freisler. He was killed in a bombing raid on February 3, 1945, two years after Sophie and the others were martyred.
For some reason, Sophie and Hans' situation put me in mind of Aldo Moro. He was the Italian Prime Minister who was kidnapped by the Red Brigade and held for 54 days before he was murdered. I don't know if his nation remembers him as a martyr. I just remember the news reports that he was pleading for his life and in one of his newspaper columns William F. Buckley said Moro should face his situation like a man and get ready to meet his maker.