Sophie Scholl: The Final Days

Sophie Scholl - The Final Days is a film directed by Marc Rothemund that was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and praised by many critics. But is it really that good? Well before I get to that let me tell you a little about the film. The film follows the final days of Sophie Scholl's life, as the title suggests. Sophie Scholl is a student of the University of Munich, who is also part of a non-violent Nazi resistance group called the White Rose. Sophie and other members of the White Rose create leaflets that they attend to place all over the University. However, things go terribly wrong and Sophie and another White Rose member is captured. When Sophie is captured she denies knowing anything about the leaflets and is about to be released an order comes in to not let her go. Irrefutable evidence linking her to the leaflets is found. Sophie and three other White Rose members are charged with treason. Sophie and the three White Rose members are tried and eventually found guilty, they are all sentenced to death. They are all executed on the same day even though she was told that they wouldn't be executed for at least 90 days.

One of the major themes of the film was rebellion. The White Rose was a resistance group that knew what Hitler was doing to the Jews and the terrible losses that the army was suffering. They wanted to spread the word to all of Germany that Hitler's Germany was the enemy and what they were doing was wrong. The White Rose believed in something and they died to trying to rid the world of Hitler.

This film, being a true story, was very good. The story of this small group of college students who stood up to tyranny and injustice was very interesting. Also the way the colors in the movie were very vibrant. If you watch the scene in the courthouse, you can really see the colors of the uniforms and the Nazi symbols really pop. It was very well shot and overall a beautiful film. The pacing of the film was also masterfully done. Never during the whole movie did I feel bored. Even though the majority of the film is dialogue you never feel like looking away. To see how ignorant and stupid the Nazi's were is really quite remarkable. I had a lot of fun watching this movie and would highly recommend it.