Student life and activism have gone hand in hand for quite some time. But today, protests against Starbucks and Taco Bell seem rather lackluster. Are these un-revolutionary times or do the efforts of the present just seem like small potatoes compared to the past? The first thing that comes to mind is the work done by students against issues like the Vietnam War in the 1960s, but the concept of young people striving to inspire change is nothing new.
This year's Oscar nominations for Best Foreign Film honor the work of German director Marc Rothemund and his film titled "Sophie Scholl - Die Letzten Tage" ("The Last Days,") based on a biography of the same title. The film is centered on the final days of revolutionary student activist Sophie Scholl immediately following her prosecution for high treason against the Third Reich in 1943 Munich.
The history goes as follows: In the early 1940s, Hans and Sophie Scholl, Alexander Schmorell, Christoph Probst and Willi Graf were all university students in Munich. All had at one point been members of the Hitler Youth corps, which was more than expected of their demographic at the time. But slowly, they began to identify with Marxist philosophy and spoke out against National Socialism. These students believed the German population's passive acceptance of Hitler's control to be at the root of the problem and began a covert operation of leaflet distribution and public demonstration (e.g. graffiti) to educate their audience.
This was incredibly difficult to do, as the group, who called themselves "the White Rose," took on bigger and bigger roles in the distribution of their message, even with the help of their professor, Kurt Huber, and others. It is a wonder they were able to speak as candidly on ideals of freedom as they did. Eventually, the Gestapo caught the students after a particularly zealous scattering of anti-Hitler leaflets around their university. The Scholls were accused of high treason and executed by guillotine within days of the leaflet incident.
Before this year, the White Rose probably saw its best representation on film with the 1982 movie titled "Die Weiáe Rose." This movie, directed by Michael Verhoeven, follows the timeline of the group's resistance, emphasizing the difficulties the students encountered in distributing their message. The trial and eventual execution is dealt with swiftly at the end of the film, choosing to spend more time focusing on the actions of the living rather than the haunting memory of the dead.
Rothemund's film bypasses the early formation of the White Rose and picks up at the Gestapo arrest after the leaflet distribution. It focuses on the intense interrogation the students immediately after their arrest, told from the perspective of Sophie Scholl. Her story is notable because she was the youngest, most adamant and perhaps most reckless member of the White Rose, not to mention the only woman.
Julia Jentsch plays Sophie with a sense of bravery and stoicism that was lacking in the straight-faced 1982 take on the events. The movie shows the unrelenting intensity of the interrogation and trial while contrasting it with the presumed normalcy of everyday life in Nazi Germany, and it is often remembered by historians as the projection of courage Sophie Scholl maintained as she walked to the guillotine.
"Die Letzten Tage" flows almost like a courtroom drama, but set with a tone that should resonate with students of all kinds more than just the average "Law and Order" fan. Rothemund's clear intent is to provide a film that transcends a mere reenactment of historic events. Rather, he communicates a heartfelt plea to today's generation to identify the dangers of repression and value our freedoms.
Hopefully the film's Oscar nomination will draw much-needed attention to the relevancy of the White Rose's actions in the 1940s to the plights of student activists today.
