Review of Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005) by Dan B — 10 Aug 2013

Pretty disappointing. Why didn't the movie show more of what was happening in Germany in 1943, when it was set? How the economy was crumbling and how hard life was getting for the German people? How young men were being sent to die in a hopeless war? There was no depiction of that at all; it was just mentioned by Sophie in her courtroom testimony.

Most of the shots just show people sitting around indoors talking calmly. Also, after reading up on the real trial at which Sophie Scholl was sentenced to death, it sounded like the dialogue could have been a lot more dramatic.

Maybe I'm underestimating how stoic German culture was back then, but the calm demeanor of all the characters throughout was fairly underwhelming. Overall, this movie could have done a much better job telling the story in a way that was engaging rather than slow-moving and sad, and putting the story in a larger context of one of the most dramatic conflicts in human history.