FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Sophie Scholl

In the heart of Sophie Scholl is a long interrogation. Munich, 1943: A Nazi careerist interviews Sophie Scholl (Julia Jentsch), a student accused of distributing leaflets on campus against Hitler and his war. This is no thriller. From the beginning we know all the information. Sophie and her brother Hans (Fabian Hinrichs) belong to the White Rose, an underground organization. Actually the leaflets should have been sent out, but Hans gets the idea to simply distribute them. That sounds silly and if the Scholls were communists, they would certainly have violated their party discipline. But they are Catholics and follow their conscience. But it almost worked. They put piles of flyers in front of the seminar rooms. Only when Sophie lets a pile of them fly through the staircase does the caretaker, a Nazi by trade, discover them. He is angry, also because they give him extra work. The film refrains from creating artificial drama. It is based on facts and transcripts of interrogation protocols. We hear what the Scholl siblings actually said. Cool and calm Sophie answers the precise questions. She has a strong alibi. Will she get away with it? And here's the effect: Hardly any thriller could be so thrilling and thrilling! But the Nazi laws have no connection to higher justice. Of course not. Everything seems like pure bureaucracy. Then Sophie is found guilty. With frightening speed, the verdict is passed. One day Sophie throws a few flyers in the stairwell, two days later she's dead. Appeal? No appeal. Are the policeman in charge and the judge bad people? Yes, absolutely. But they do their duty. There's always someone to interpret the law. A constitution guarantees rights and freedoms. But these are ignored in Germany in 1943. These are the thoughts the film discusses. Again and again it's about questions like these: When was Sophie where and why? Why is the evidence against her convincing? The policeman acts passively, the judge eloquently. But those who know exactly that they are acting wrong often defend themselves the loudest. In the end, they must fear a higher moral judgement about themselves! Sophie is allowed to spend a few moments with her parents. These are the saddest moments in the film. Before she and her brother are taken away forever, her father praises her. You did the right thing. "I am proud of you both."