Marc Rothemund, Julia Jentsch and the White Rose By John Esther February 24, 2006 - 12:27 AM PST "Apolitical is always bad." The stuff of legend in Germany, Sophie Scholl's last days on earth are closely examined in Marc Rothemund's Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (Sophie Scholl: Die letzen Tage). Featuring a powerful performance by Julia Jentsch as the titular character, Scholl was part of an underground student movement who opposed the Third Reich. Known as the White Rose, Sophie - the group's sole female member - along with her brother, Hans (Fabian Hinrichs), and others have become symbols of civil disobedience for Germans and many non-Germans alike. Rather than focus on the political development of the group itself, which Michael Verhoeven did in his 1982 film, Die weisse Rose (The White Rose), or tell the story of the group's last five days from an outside point of view, which Percy Adlon did in his film that same year, F�nf letze Tage (The Last Five Days), this film focuses on Scholl's last six days (February 17 to 22, 1943), based on her own recorded testimony and supplemented with the testimony of others. Co-written by Fred Breinersdorfer and Rothemund, the story covers the time from when Scholl and others created anti-Nazi pamphlets and were caught distributing them to her arrest, interrogation, trial and execution. The most engaging aspect of the film is her interrogation, which was conducted by Robert Mohr (Alexander Held), a collaborator who believed in upholding the law no matter who was writing it. It is a battle of wills and wits, and Scholl is not above distorting the truth to save her life. Relatively new to the public discourse on Scholl's life, the documents this film is based on were originally sent to Moscow after the Russians conquered Berlin towards the end of World War II. The confiscated documents were then sent to East Berlin where they remained hidden until the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. Sophie Scholl: The Final Days has won numerous awards including the German equivalent of the Oscar for Jentsch's performance. Recently it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. The Berlin-born Jentsch, 28, was recently seen in the US in the 2004 films Downfall (Der Untergang) and The Edukators (Die Fetten Jahre sind vorbei) as Hanna Potrowski and Julie respectively. Her other credits include Hans W. Geissend�fer's 2005 film, Snowland (Schneeland) and Christoph Stark's Julietta (2001). Rothemund began his career as an assistant director before making his first feature film, Love Scenes from Planet Earth (Das Merw�rdige Verhalten Geschlechtsreifer Grossst�dter Zur Paarungszeit) in 1998. This was followed by the very popular, Just the Two of Us (Harte Jungs) in 1999. Sophie Scholl: The Final Days is his third feature. I interviewed Jentsch and Rothemund in Los Angeles back in November when their film appeared at the AFI Film Festival. The records were found in 1990. Why did it take so long for the film to be made? Marc Rothemund: All these documents about the interrogations, the trial and the execution were sent to Moscow after the Russians conquered Berlin. They sent them to East Berlin. They checked and said, "Oh, student resistance, pacifists, human rights and freedom of speech. That's not good for our communist system." They hid it. After reunification, they were transported to the Federal German Archive. It was 1990. It was the end of the Cold War. The Germans were very busy with East Germany, West Germany and the political stuff. Their minds were not open enough to look at the past. They were so busy growing together that nobody could think about the documents that tell a story about wartime. Now fifteen years later, Germany has grown together. It is no longer East and West, and I think the grandchildren of the Nazis are starting to ask questions about the time of their grandparents. In terms of engaging the audience, what dramatic concerns did you have about focusing on the last days? Rothemund: In 1982, Michael Verhoeven made Die weisse Rose and it was about the whole group. I didn't want to do a remake. It's a great movie based on very good research. And three years ago, there was the 60-year anniversary of Sophie Scholl's death. In Germany there are 190 schools named after Sophie Scholl. She is a hero. When I started my research, I found out Sophie Scholl had spent four days at Gestapo headquarters for distributing leaflets calling for passive resistance and human rights. I was so surprised that these documents were lying there for forty years and nobody was interested. German historians are [conflicted] between annoyance and shame. I called for the documents and I went and I discovered on the first page that she was lying. Nobody in Germany knew she lied. She said, "I wasn't distributing leaflets. I am innocent." You learn she is a human being who fights for her life. She's afraid of death and she wants to live. She's in a room with a 44-year-old Gestapo interrogation specialist. After three days, he wants to save her life. But then she says she would do the same thing over again and accept the consequences. This was so fascinating and emotional I made a movie out of it. But I only had the film's running time of two hours to capture these final days on film. Along those lines of her lying, the film deals with her version of events from a historical viewpoint and yet we know she lies. How did you negotiate what was or is the truth? Rothemund: I tried giving the main part of this movie to the original word and to the original action. It was important I get very good actors to bring these words to life in an emotional way. But it's all true. It's a true story. What was your impression of Sophie Scholl before you read the script and took on the role? Julia Jentsch: I knew about her and the White Rose. Of course it was very interesting to get to know more about what happened and the background. What do you think you have in common with Sophie Scholl? Rothemund: Maybe it's better if I say it: honesty and empathy. I chose actors who have empathy for other people, who are passionate about telling the story. You played a rebel in The Edukators. Do you like playing rebels? Jentsch: It's an accident. For me, the two roles are different. But actors change to become someone else, to feel responsible not only for yourself. What kind of pressure did you feel playing this heroic figure? Jentsch: I was worried what the people who knew Sophie - who were still alive - would think. How would it be seeing this person playing this person they know? If the pressure were too much I wouldn't have done it. Recently we have seen films from Germany dealing with women and resistance movements. Why do you think those films are being made? Rothemund: I am glad we have a movie that is not always dealing with a man in uniform. Most of the movies about that war are about men in uniform. In the 1980s, there were many films about resistance and they were very political. This generation of filmmakers does not feel guilty but responsible to keep it in the heads of the younger generations. We are the first generation who can make emotional movies about it. But to answer your question specifically, it is easier for today's audiences to identify with woman who were not soldiers, who were not eyewitnesses to the murder on the Eastern Front. You mention political movies. Being apolitical seems to be an acceptable defense for repressive governments such as the Nazis. After making this film, what are your attitudes toward people or filmmakers who claim they are apolitical? Rothemund: Apolitical is always bad. That is why I appreciate the White Rose members. You need to know what is behind political slogans and the politicians who tell you something. As a member of a modern society, you are obliged to be interested in the fate of people and not blame foreigners for your own situation. You should be curious about politicians and vote and take responsibility for each individual of society and society itself. If you profit without being interested in where the money comes from, like Hitler, than you are guilty. Hitler killed the Jews, took their money - the gold out of their teeth - and gave it to Germans of position. They didn't want to know where the money came from. If more people had been interested in Bush's slogans about weapons of mass destruction... Do you see a comparison between Hitler and Bush? Rothemund: No because Hitler killed his own people. Bush is an imperialist but I would never compare the two. Bush is not killing his own people. He did send soldiers to war but I would never compare them. The film is serious for about 90 minutes and then we get the trial with its gallows-like humor. Should we be laughing at the absurdity of the situation? Rothemund: The audience does not know how to compensate their own feelings watching Sophie's impending death. But if they laugh, it's a matter of a lack of compensation for the emotional journey they've shared with Sophie. Actually, they have footage of the real trial judge and you just can't believe him. He's like a puppet. What do you think about these interviews? Do you think they serve the film or do you think the film should just serve itself? Rothemund: For me, these interviews allow me to tell so many stories I could not tell in the movie. I think these interviews confirm the truth of the story. The White Rose wanted people to think and this movie should make people want to think. If the movie makes people think, then I think we have served the idea of the White Rose. If it opens the eyes of two or three Nazis, the movie is worthwhile. Jentsch: I think the movie has to speak for itself. But I have learned the marketing necessity of having to talk about it [laughs]. back to articles >>> Index "Apolitical is always bad." back to articles

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