Die weiße Rose

Die Weiße Rose is a sad, touching film. I imagine that it was popular in Europe, but it seems that nearly nobody here has seen it--a shame, really, because it is so good. Yes, there was a resistance in Germany. The movie focuses on the story of two young people involved in said resistance, an attempted feat that makes them seem like heroes to almost everybody on the planet.

But it isn't just the story that's good. That wouldn't be enough, really, since there are lots of movies which take exciting ideas and screw them up horribly. Die Weiße Rose is very well filmed, very subtle and exciting, and very sad.

"The White Rose" identifies the international effects of post-WWI. Germany sought purity within their culture to counter suffrage imposed by conquering nations. 'The Hun' was hog tied to keep the world safe while WWII developed. In this atmosphere, Nazism flourished with the rise of a gifted communicator, Der Fuehrer--The Leader. In the form of ethnocentrism white roses blossomed. "The White Rose" was a world tragedy not just a nationalistic movement. However, within the hell of Nazi Germany a few youngsters and their academia professors attempted to communicate the reality of hell on earth, and they failed. I have this movie in Beta video format and await a DVD replacement. I was introduced to this film while I was stationed in West Germany in 1982 when it won numerous European awards. It's a classic international film worth owning. I write this review on November 9, 2008 in remembrance of Kristalnacht, November 8, 1938 or The Night of Broken Glass.

A war is being waged by a mad man, who fans the flames of conflict where he can, in Germany and abroad, he slashes with his sword, but the tide begins to turn against his plan. The University of Munich takes the stage, where a group of students publish their outrage, covertly they dispense, argue against armed offense, it's a war of words and wisdom on a page. But the powers that have stolen all free speech, hail down upon the message that you preach, incarceration and then court, corrupted state gets what it sought, but there is solace in the strength of your outreach.

The powerful and inspirational story of students banding together to stop a tyrant during WWII, great performances all round but especially from Lena Stolze playing the brave Sophie Scholl.

What I like most about this film is its sobriety, dispassion and sophistication in tackling the topic. There's no idealisation of the resistance group. It is based on precisely researched historical facts which successfully moves over clichés and false glorifications. Director Michael Verhoeven makes clear, that Sophie and Hans Scholl were neither longing for death nor wanted to set a beacon by giving themselves in custody. As incredibly brave and encouraged they were, they wanted to live most of all. The film also prompts questions of resistance fighters in a terror regime: Is there a right to resist against the majority of people? Is violence justified? Is it allowed to carry on sabotage which threatens the population? Is it allowed to wish a defeat for the own country? Is it worth anything to risk one's own life?

This was a great film about brave students in Nazi Germany who risk their lives and start a student rebellion. Many people do not realize that there was a resistance movement in Germany. This film reminds us that not all Germans loved hitler and the nazis. Sophie and Hans Scholl were two brave persons!