It has taken 60 years, but finally some excellent German films have come out about the Nazi era.

Hopefully you've seen "Downfall," an eerie look at a feeble and erratic Adolph Hitler in his final days.

"Sophie Scholl - - Die letzten Tage (The Final Days)" never shows Hitler, but remains a compelling, dialogue-driven examination of Nazi Germany.

As good as "Downfall" is, it's the umpteenth look at the final days of old Adolph.

"Sophie Scholl" is a fresh approach. Much of the film is Scholl defending her anti-Nazi actions in spirited debate with Nazi officers and police. We know no matter what, Sophie is going to lose not only the debate, but her life.

Scholl was a beautiful, 22-year-old university student in 1943. Her father was a former mayor who once denounced Hitler. But Sophie considered herself apolitical. She wasn't Jewish. She didn't have to risk her life.

But Sophie and her brother, Hans, started helping with an underground printing operation, under the beliefs not only was Hitler and Nazism wrong, but Hitler really wasn't versed in the military and his decisions were killing soldiers. Sophie's fiancé was at the front.

Julia Jentsch is tremendous as Sophie. She has to be because much of the movie centers on her being put through the Nazi millwork.

The movie starts with Sophie and a friend singing to 1940s American swing music. At that point, she could have been in an early Sandra Dee. For all we know, this could have been a beach movie.

But when Sophie leaves that house, she travels down a few dark streets, watching behind her, before slipping into a warehouse.

Inside are her brother Hans, played by Fabian Hirnichs, and a few others. They have a printing press, masses of stamps (with Hitler's face on them) and a desire to get the message to people that Hitler is bad.

It sort of dispels the belief that mainstream Germans in the 1930s and 40s simply went along with the Hitler madness.

Hans and Sophie volunteer for a very dangerous job, to distribute anti-Nazi fliers while class is in session at the University of Munich.

It is a lump-in-throat experience as the pair run along, slapping down fliers every few feet. With a sigh of relief, they seemingly finish their task and race outside. But then they notice they have many fliers left, so it is back inside to the top floor to finish the job.

As the bell rings, Sophie pushes a bunch of the fliers off the balcony to the floor below.

She and Hans try to blend with other students, but a janitor grabs the pair and await the local authorities.

Jentsch plays Sophie beautifully, having an answer for every question her interrogator gives. She denies passing out the fliers, proposing she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

She just about has authorities convinced. She is told she can go home. But then we learn the Nazis visited the apartment of herself and her brother. They found enough evidence to determine Sophie was lying. Her brother confessed.

The drama is stepped up even more as Sophie is jailed and goes on trial with her brother and another student.

Nazi officers are given a chance to defend Hitler and government actions. It was the Nazis that afforded these students a college education. It was the Nazis that ended the depression and tremendous inflation Germany suffered for years after World War I.

The courtroom scenes are riveting and realistic. I know the realism because the extras include actual footage of the real trial.

This is an astounding peace of work. This film will keep you riveted without the need for alien monsters or explosions or gunfire.

Most of it takes place in dark, smoke-laden offices or dank prisons.

This would also make a fine edition to a church library, because Sophie is a Christian in a country where she is told God doesn't exist.

She prays for strength to endure what will happen to her.

If you are looking for a film with some history, that will keep you engrossed in the main character, that will inspire, you can't do much better than this one.

Star Beacon Print Edition: 6/1/2007

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