Sophie Scholl: The Final Days

2005 Drama

Filmmaker Marc Rothemund utilizes long-buried historical records to reconstruct the last six days in the life of renowned German anti-Nazi activist Sophie Scholl (Julia Jentsch) in an Academy Award-nominated feature that earned star Julia Jentsch a Best Actress award at both the 2005 Lolas and the 2005 Berlin International Film Festival. The year is 1943 and Adolf Hitler's devastating march across Europe has resulted in the formation of the White Rose, an underground resistance movement born in Munich and dedicated to the fall of the Third Reich. Despite being one of the only female members in the White Rose movement, Sophie Scholl's conviction is strong and her will unbreakable. Eventually arrested by the Gestapo for distributing pamphlets on campus alongside her brother Hans, Sophie boldly maintains her ground by calling for freedom and personal responsibility and never once backing down even in the face of certain, inescapable death. more..

Director: Marc Rothemund

Starring: Julia Jentsch, Alexander Held, Fabian Hinrichs, Johanna Gastdorf, Andre Hennicke

Reviews

  • This gripping true story, directed in a cool, semi-documentary style by the German filmmaker Marc Rothemund from a screenplay by Fred Breinersdorfer, challenges you to gauge your own courage and strength of character should you find yourself in similar circumstances.

    Stephen Holden - The New York Times

    19 January 2013

  • Julia Jentsch strong and graceful, quiet knockout of a performance is the film's most potent weapon.

    Kenneth Turan - Los Angeles Times

    19 January 2013

  • Rock solid performances by up-and-coming German actress Julia Jentsch as Sophie and Alexander Held ("Downfall") as Mohr along with an excellent cast of supporting players insure that no one mistakes this for a lifeless docu-drama.

    Kirk Honeycutt - The Hollywood Reporter

    19 January 2013

  • The effect of this scene is so powerful that I leaned forward like a jury member, wanting her to get away with it so I could find her innocent.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    19 January 2013

  • Sophie Scholl has a certain quiet dignity that wins its audience popularity honestly.

    Lisa Schwarzbaum - Entertainment Weekly

    19 January 2013

Awards

  • Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

    Academy Awards (2006)

     
  • Christoph Müller

    Artur Brauner Award (2005)

  • Best Production (Produzentenpreis)

    Bavarian Film Awards (2006)

  • Competition

    Berlin International Film Festival (2005)

  • Best Non-American Film (Bedste ikke-amerikanske film)

    Bodil Awards (2006)