| Reviewed by Glenn Gaslin (February/March 2007 issue of Moving Pictures) Directed by Marc Rothemund. Starring Julia Jentsch, Fabian Hinrichs, Gerald Alexander Held. Released by Zeitgeist Films. Box office (U.S.): $1 million. Box office (worldwide): $9 million.
A Nazi every-soldier interrogates a free-thinking young woman, and - thanks to diligent German record keeping and deft modern acting - the re-creation is searing and relevant. The conversations at the heart of this true story, about Scholl's trial and execution for
handing out anti-Nazi leaflets, are reconstructed from Gestapo documents. Any bright-eyed optimism about freedom, any stock apologies for totalitarianism, any metaphorical critiques of the Bush administration - they're in the record, and on the excellent Jentsch's face. The DVD lets history buffs dig deeper, too, in interviews with Scholl's sister and the interrogator's son. Even after her final days, Scholl still has plenty to say. |
