Nothing is so unworthy of a civilized nation as allowing itself to be governed without opposition by an irresponsible clique that has yielded to base instinct. Do not forget that every people deserves the regime it is willing to endure! Every individual human being has a claim to a useful and just state, which secures freedom of the individual as well as the good of the whole.
– From leaflets distributed by the White Rose
Much ado was made last summer when, for the filming of “V for Vendetta,” the movie’s glamorous star, Natalie Portman, had her head shaved on camera. No skullcaps, no special effects. She was really, truly shorn. But while the celebrity press gushed over Portman’s lost locks, my guess is that the savvy young actress was keeping deeper thoughts.
In the movie, Portman plays Evey, a girl captured and tortured by government agents in a neo-fascist England dotted with internment camps. In real life, Portman’s great-grandparents were prisoners at Auschwitz. Thoughts of them were probably not far from her mind as she acted through her on-screen indignities or caught glimpses of her stubbly head in the mirror. According to news stories, Portman took a trip to Israel shortly after filming was completed.
But “V for Vendetta” is just a fiction, and one with a happy (if muddled) ending. Evey takes up the mask of her bomb-wielding mentor, the wicked government crumbles under the will of the people, and hope springs anew.
The outlook was less bright for Sophie Scholl, a young woman studying at the University of Munich in 1943. And while she neither hurled bombs with revolutionary fervor nor suffered the depravations of a concentration camp, her fearlessness in the face of Nazi oppression has become legendary.
The ending of “Sophie Scholl – The Final Days” is a foregone conclusion from the minute you read the title. The destination is assured; only the journey – the story of the last six days of Scholl’s life – matters.
A bright university student with a desire to teach young children, Scholl (Julia Jentsch) had led a life of relative privilege. But as she grew older, she became disillusioned with the Nazi government. With her brother, Hans, and a number of fellow students, she formed the White Rose, a nonviolent resistance movement determined to stir up public sentiment and foment revolution.
On Feb. 18, 1943, the siblings go to the Munich campus to stack propaganda flyers while all the other students are in class. But a janitor spies the pair, and they are quickly arrested for distributing seditionist literature. Seemingly unruffled, the clever Scholl spins such a convincing web of lies that her interrogators are prepared to let her go. But then a damning bit of evidence is discovered, and she has no recourse but to admit guilt.
What follows over the next few days is a stark and powerful interrogation-turned-debate between Scholl and her captor, Gestapo officer Robert Mohr (Alexander Held). The outcome, of course, is inevitable. But Scholl remains stalwart, refusing to give up the others in the resistance. Even Mohr respects her, and he wrestles with the convictions of her morality. He offers her a way out, pleading with her to refute her words, but she refuses and is handed over to a sham court to await her death sentence and execution.
The strength of “Sophie Scholl – The Final Days” comes from two sources: an outstanding performance by Jentsch and the remarkable source material compiled for the screenplay. Director Marc Rothemund and writer Fred Breinersdorfer combed through original documents of Scholl’s interrogation, many of which had been buried in old East German archives. The dialogue between Scholl and Mohr is gripping and dynamic – more visceral than comic-book movie explosions fired off by a dashing vigilante – because it’s authentic.
One of the nominees for best foreign film at this year’s Academy Awards, “Sophie Scholl – The Final Days” was scheduled as of press time to come to Plaza Frontenac Cinema on April 7.
German hospitality – Gemütlichkeit! – is in abundance at Saint Louis Gast Haus, a worthy accompaniment (and necessary spirit lifter) after the staggering drama of Scholl’s life. Tuck into all your favorite traditional German fare, including Rouladen and Schnitzel, Spätzle and Strudel. Wash it down with a crisp Riesling or a sudsy Bitburger Pils while admiring room-filling murals and tapping your foot to the rhythmic oom-pah-pah music. Prost!
This article appears in Mar 1-31, 2006.