I've heard about this movie and story for more than a year and put the video on hold at our local library. It finally came in last week. And I finally watched it.
A couple of caveats - it is in German with subtitles and the pacing and style are NOT like the Bourne movies.
But it is a pretty good story - in fact probably a great one.
Simply put Sophie and her brother and some like-minded college-age friends, publish leaflets etc. denouncing Hitler and his govt. I should point out this is set in 1943 in Germany.
What is remarkable is that this is based on a true story. Some of our generation may recall various protest, marches, sit-ins etc. during the height of the Vietnam war. Some may have even been injured by tear gas or overly-zealous law-enforcement and let's not forget the 4 students killed at Kent St. Univ. in 1970.
But apart from that tragedy, few of the protesters were ever called upon to defend their actions against penalty of imprisonment and certainly not death.
It was astounding to see these young people so committed to their cause that they would risk death to make sure other students (I was surprised their goal was mostly to educate college students about Hitler and what was really happening.) knew the truth about the war.
One great scene - not cinematically complex at all - is a verbal tennis match between Sophie and her German interrogator. He's armed with the full force of the Gestapo and all that that means. She's armed only with her convictions and amazing composure under great pressure. This scene alone is worth the movie as she goes toe-to-toe with him, never backs down and you can see in his eyes she has planted the seeds of either doubt of his own position or a sense of respect that she gains in his mind.
If you don't know the ending, I won't spoil it for you. I found it more compelling than a book I read on this subject. The book was written in the 40s or 50s so its style too was slow and detailed. I've read several reviews and they all talk about what a great spiritual story this was and how important faith was in their lives and actions. I'll confess I didn't see this as the over-arching point of the movie. Yes Sophie prayed more than once. Her mother admonishes her to remember Jesus. And perhaps without their faith, none of them would have done what they did. But to make this out to be a Christian movie or anything like that is a disservice to their story.
You don't have to care about Germany, WWII or similar things to appreciate a good story about young people standing up for what they believe.
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