Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Sophie Scholl: The Final Days Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 17, 2008

Factual, poignant and well-executed, “Sophie Scholl” (2005) follows the story of a courageous anti-Nazi activist and her collaborators during WW2. The picture was selected to represent Germany at the Oscars a few years ago. Courtesy of UK-based distributors ICA Films / Drake’s Avenue. Region-Free.

Sophie Scholl

Sophie Scholl (Julia Jentsch), a biology and philosophy student, is arrested and charged with illegal distribution of anti-Nazi leaflets. Her brother (Fabian Hinrichs) is also captured. The two are sent to court where Robert Mohr (Alexander Held), a man with close ties to the Nazi political elite, is asked to handle their interrogation.

As the trial begins, we learn that Sophie and Hans are also active members of the White Rose, an illegal organization committed to fighting the Nazis. On February 22, 1943, Sophie, Hans, and one of their closest assistants, Christoph (Florian Stetter), are found guilty. Shortly after, they are executed.

Written by Fred Breinersdorfer and directed by Marc Rothemund, Sophie Scholl was selected by Germany as its official Oscar-entry in 2005. The film made it to the final round but ended up losing to the South African production Tsotsi (2005).

Scripted from an overwhelming amount of documents, many declassified after the fall of East Germany, Sophie Scholl looks and feels like a documentary feature. Its subject matter is deeply rooted in historical data, carefully constructed, and truthfully executed. Unsurprisingly, the film focuses on the actual trial of the White Rose members without really spending much time on anything else.

Those of you unfamiliar with Sophie Scholl's story are likely to have a difficult time remembering the detailed description of locations, events, and actions surrounding her execution. Logically, large portions of Sophie Scholl feel like a chronological exposé of facts rather than fractions of a motion picture. As a result, Sophie Scholl effectively avoids producing questionable political slogans high-profile WW2 films are often littered with.

I assume that this is one of the main reasons why Sophie Scholl failed to earn the respect of the Academy. Its reserved and distinctively documentary-like tone does not blend well with the type of cinema the Academy members like to recognize when WW2 events are recreated. This is very unfortunate, to say the least, as Sophie Scholl is probably one of the very few excellent films dealing with such events to make it to the final round.

Technically, Sophie Scholl is not a film of visual surprises. The camerawork is mostly static and in sync with its documentary tone. Furthermore, the dialog-driven structure for the narrative favored by Marc Rothemund works incredibly well and, logically, Sophie Scholl maintains an excellent tempo. As a result, it is fairly easy to follow the chronology of events leading to Sophie’s execution.

Perhaps the only issue some of you may experience throughout the course of the film is the overwhelming amount of historical references (locations, dates, etc). Indeed, Marc Rothermund provides an incredibly detailed account of most every event with any sort of relevance to the main subject, and for someone largely unfamiliar with Sophie and the history behind the White Rose this could be fairly confusing. However, having seen Sophie Scholl a few times now, I personally find all of the above mentioned references to be nothing but helpful in understanding the heroic actions of the main protagonists.

Sophie Scholl: The Final Days Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG4-AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Sophie Scholl – The Final Days arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of UK-based distributors Drake's Avenue / ICA Films.

Quite some time ago, I reviewed this film for another site (a region 1 SDVD release by Zeitgeist Video) and was fairly disappointed with the video presentation. What the US distributors delivered was a notably flawed release, a PAL-NTSC transfer with plenty of heavy "ghosting" issues, which made my viewing experience very unpleasant. Later on, I was also sent the R2 UK disc which turned out to be non-anamorphic, and as far as I am concerned, even more disturbing than the R1 DVD. Now, I mention all of the above because I wish to give you a clear perspective on how much better the Blu-ray release of Sophie Scholl is (this is also one of the reasons why I am so excited to see many independent distributors enter Blu-waters, the conversion issues many releases produced by independent producers is something I hope HD transfer will effectively address). First of all, the Blu-ray disc I hold in my hands is by the same distributor responsible for the UK DVD release. Yet, the difference here is simply unbelievable. The Blu-ray transfer is progressive, crystal clear and sharp, and with a color-scheme that does not even come close to what I have seen on previous DVD releases. With other words, all of the standard-def issues I mentioned earlier are nowhere to be seen on this 1080p transfer. Second of all, Sophie Scholl looks much more natural as well. The flesh tones are healthier, the indoor scenes unaffected by strong video noise, and edge enhancement hardly an issue. Finally, blown through a digital projector, this 1080p transfer remains tight to the frame. This being said, my only complaint here is the fact that during a few selected scene contrast levels appear slightly boosted. Aside from that, the actual print is in very good condition – I did not detect any specks, dirt, or debris. (Note: Even though the Blu-ray disc is marketed as Region-B it is in fact Region-Free).

Sophie Scholl: The Final Days Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Somewhat surprisingly Sophie Scholl offers only a German: PCM 2.0 track. I don't believe that this is too big of a setback for this, mostly dialog-driven, picture but, nevertheless, it would have been better if the UK distributors had provided a PCM 5.1 track instead. This being said, the quality of the audio mix is solid. Dialog is very easy to follow and I certainly did not detect any pops, cracks, or dropouts to report here. On the other hand, the little music that you will hear is evenly balanced with the dialog. Optional English subtitles are offered for the main feature but they seem a bit too big for my taste. Still, the English translation is solid and I did not detect any grammatical errors.

Sophie Scholl: The Final Days Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

In addition to the original theatrical trailer for Sophie Scholl, on this Blu-ray disc you will also find a "Making Of" featurette, which compiles mostly footage from the production process (there are scattered comments by the cast and crew as well). The featurette is broken into seven chapters. Next is a gallery with thirteen deleted scenes. Finally, there is a gallery with three very interesting interviews – one with Franz Muller, White Rose member and Walter Gebel, nephew of Sophie Scholl's cellmate Else Gebel; one with Willi Mohr, son of inspector Mohr; and one with Elizabeth Harthnagel, sister of Sophie and Hans Scholl – with archive trial footage. I strongly encourage you to watch these interviews only after you have already seen the film as they offer a great deal of revealing information pertaining to the history of the White Rose as well as the fate of Sophie Scholl. The archive footage in particular is very interesting. For the record, all of the supplemental materials are perfectly playable in Region-A machines, they are not in PAL. Optional English subtitles are provided for all of the extras as well.

Sophie Scholl: The Final Days Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sophie Scholl has finally received the treatment it deserves. Aside from the fact that Drake's Avenue did not move the audio presentation a notch, and offered only a PCM 2.0 mix, everything else looks very good to my eyes. The Blu- ray disc is most definitely a strong upgrade over previous releases of the film. Highly Recommended.