sophie scholl Tagged Articles at Cinematical

One of my favorite interviews of last year was Julia Jentsch, a young German actress on the rise, who was at the time starring as Nazi-resistance hero Sophie Scholl in the under-appreciated film Sophie Scholl: The Final Days. Anyone who has seen the film is hard-pressed to forget it -- it follows the young freedom fighter as a minor screw-up in her daily routine lands her in the hands of the local police. If they find out who she really is, she'll be executed as fast as she can be dragged to the gallows. There really was no better suspense film released last year, and I highly recommend it to anyone. However, after the film absurdly lost the Best Foreign Language Oscar, I wondered if Jentsch would fade back into the obscurity of German stage work, which she was doing when I interviewed her, but now comes news that she's snagged the lead in a major helming of the German literary classic Effi Briest, which many consider one of the finest novels ever written.

The story, by Theodor Fontane, is about a young woman who is living a miserable existence in an arranged marriage to a man somewhat above her station in life and eventually takes on a lover who is equally unsuitable for her. Juliane Koehler, who was memorable as Eva Braun in 2004's Hitler saga Downfall, will play Effi's mother and Sebastian Koch, who starred in Verhoeven's incredible Dutch epic Black Book, will be playing one of the film's male leads. So in other words, the leading lights of German cinema are on this thing. The film is being directed by Hermine Huntgeburth, who I confess to knowing absolutely nothing about, but hopefully I'll learn more after this film sees the light of day. The pic is ramping up for a Berlin start date on September 3rd, exactly. Very precise -- that's Germans for you.

Will Smith presents Best Foreign, because of course foreign language films comprise the greater part of his body of work. What country is Paradise Now going to officially be from? -- Palestinian Territories, nice compromise. Here are the nominees:

Don't Tell (Italy)
Joyeux Noël (France)
Paradise Now (Palestinian Authority)
Sophie Scholl -- The Final Days (Germany)
Tsotsi (South Africa)

 

And the winner is....Tsotsi! Woot!

Director Gavin Hood gives the most impassioned and heartfelt speech of the evening. He graciously insists the camera people show the kids who starred in the film, too. Why is it that the non-Hollywood types give the most realistically emotional speeches, while the  people who are supposed to be able to act often give boring ones?

 

Sophie Scholl (Julia Jentsch, who astonishes at every turn), along with her brother Hans (Fabian Hinrichs) and four friends, were the only members of an anti-Nazi organization called The White Rose. Over the few short months of the group's existence in 1941 and 1942, they printed and distributed six leaflets to German and Austrian citizens, decrying the Nazi regime and urging resistance. Caught and convicted of high treason, troop demoralization, and aiding the enemy, Sophie Scholl was executed in Munich on February 22, 1943. She was 21.

Though Scholl is is something of an icon in Germany, she's virtually unknown here in the US, which is why Marc Rothemund’s Oscar-nominated Sophie Scholl - The Final Days is such a revelation. Using sources including newly-available Nazi interrogation notes, Rothemund’s fictional film explores the last few days of Scholl’s life in searing detail, from the printing of the fateful pamphlet on the night of February 17 to her death only five days later. Aided by a pair of remarkable performances, he has created a film that does his central character the honor of not only living up to her legacy, but also making it relevant to modern audiences.