Customer Reviews

The White Rose [VHS]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Though a bit of a Germanophile, I did not see this movie until early 2000. Now, having seen it, I am somewhat of a White Rose fanatic who, like the other reviewer, enjoys visiting locations in Germany where important Resistance events took place.

There were many resistors in Germany, the most famous being the army officers who actually attempted to take Hitler's life. But the youthful appeal and unusual courage of the Scholl siblings and their friends makes Die Weisse Rose a particularly captivating and memorable group.

The film perfectly captures that youthful quality. And it appears (to this layperson) to be quite accurate, judging from the accounts I have read in books on the Resistance. I cannot tell a lie: you will walk away from this movie feeling devastated. But you will also feel glad that such Germans existed at the time, and you will feel like you have just come to know of a group of people who deserve to be among your most favorite historical figures.

I strongly recommend braving this film and putting up with the natural regret and sadness that you will feel. Too often I hear people complain that they don't like historical movies, that they are boring. Yet many of these same people have no trouble seeing formulaic action flicks, and they enjoy soaking up the fictional tragedies that we see on television and in the cinema. There is nothing boring about a true story that has heroes who are as likable and as extraordinary as any fictional dramatic character. And these heroes find themselves in just as much suspenseful danger as the characters in the best thrillers. But for once you'll be able to walk away with your shattered nerves and realize, "Wow, that was real." And you'll ask yourself, "What would I have done?"

See the movie! Then visit Munich and the many sites where dedications to this group appear.

Finally, buy this movie before you can't do so anymore. It is astonishingly difficult to find any material on Die Weisse Rose that has any kind of English translation. There are a handful of books that are out of print, and only one or two other titles still readily available. This VHS is expensive yet worthwhile. From a historical, educational AND dramatic viewpoint, you could not spend your money any better.

I began to study The White Rose about 3 years ago and have since watched this film over a dozen times. After visiting the actual locations in and around Munich, Germany, I am still amazed at the detail which went into this film. Actual locations were used (the university atrium where the Scholls were captured) and survivors were interviewed. One survivor personally told me he believed this film to be a reasonably accurate telling of the story. As an outsider, I say it's brilliant.

What can I say? I have viewed this film hundreds of times. And each time the ending brings a rush of pride to my soul and a tear to my heart. This accurate tale of Sophie Scholl and her cohorts is a celebration of the human spirit. It is a 1940's "Testament of Youth." The director and writer should be proud. For those who know little of German resistance, this is the place to start. I have been to their graves. They are interred in Alte Perlach Cemetary in Munich, Germany. Not Perlach Cemetary. Go to Alte Perlach.

This movie brought to mind Dietrich Bonhoeffer and how a few people in the academic world were moved to act against the terror of that time. I was deeply moved. The end was like a bolt of electric to my veins and brought tears to my eyes. To move in the face of fear towards what you know is right...their story inspired me. ... to me, the message in their lives is well worth the price

One of the current "hot topics" regarding the Third Reich IN GERMANY is the issue of resistance to Hitler--where did it exist, what were the consequences. The film "The White Rose" (also available in German on DVD) is an excellent film from 1982--a period when German films first began to deal with the "reality" of the Reich, experiences of the war, in a more realistic manner than the films of the 1950s such as "Letters from Stalingrad". I refer to such German films as "Das Boot" (1981)(released in the U.S.), and "The Wannsee Conference" (1985).

This film documents the Weisse Rose--a student group in Munich that was shut down by the Gestapo shortly after "news from the front" in the form of students who actually witnessed war crimes such as the massacre of prisoners began to filter through the curtain of propaganda. The courage of these students, the idealism of youth, the evil of the state are well represented here. The characters are well portrayed (with photos of the actual participants at the beginning of the film) and acted. This film is one of the best arguments that reality is much more awesome than fiction--and predates by many years the exhibition of the 1990s which sparked great controversy by revealing the role of the Wehrmacht (the military, and das Heer, the Army) in crimes against humanity through killing of Jews by the Einsatzgruppen in Poland and on the Eastern Front).

In this film we see young men in Army and Air Force (Luftwaffe) uniforms who come back to school in Munich, or on Urlaub (vacation or leave) from the Eastern front who have actually seen these crimes--prompting the main female involved to risk her life (she is ultimately sentenced to death by guillotine) to risk all in furthering the expansion of the resistance group to other cities.

I highly recommend this film to anyone interested in World War II as a partial answer to the question: "Did German citizens know what horror their government was perpetrating on innocent human beings in their name?" The answer is yes. This film is highly relevant to hard questions asked by the Vietnam generation and what will become the "War in Iraq" generation.

This is an excellent film! It shows you that not all Germans loved hitler or believed in Nazism. The Scholl siblings were two very brave people as were the rest of the White Rose resistors. An abosolute must see for all!

OUTSTANDING DRAMA, This is perfection... Had this movie been
made in the usa it would have won many academy awards, including
best picture. Outstanding actors.I recommend everyone to see this movie .This movie did win a German Award compared to the
academy awards in the usa.

The story of the White Rose (Die Weisse Rose) is one that is both inspirational and tragic. Comprised primarily of medical students at the University in Munich in 1942-1943, these people were some of the few that refused to bow under to Hitler's will - and for this, they paid with their lives.

This movie depiction basically shows actions of the group from the time that Sophie Scholl arrives in Munich until the time of her execution along with her brother Hans, and their friend Christoph Probst. The film does a fairly good job of portraying the group, though there are obvious

The movie opens with Sophie Scholl arriving in Munich on a train, to attend the university with her brother. Upon arrival she meets Hans' close knit group friends and they kindly throw her a birthday party. Although she enjoys her classes, her newfound friends, she is none the wiser about her brother's peculiar activities until she stumbles upon this eye opening leaflet written by the clandestine group, the White Rose. Sophie agrees with the leaflet and hangs onto it, and is stunned when she discovers that her brother is one of the authors of it. Despite the group's opposition to allow her to take part, she forces her way in and runs errands for them, soon becoming a full-fledged member. The movie closely follows the groups escapades, from stealing paper to buying an enormous amount of stamps (which was forbidden and suspicious in the days of Nazi Germany) to the Scholl's father's arrest for making a derogatory comment against Hitler. Hans and Sophie decide to make the daring move of distributing the sixth leaflet at the university itself, in broad daylight. Their decision seals their fate. Observed by a custodian, they are reported and arrested, and interrogated. Within five days, they are executed.
For when it was made, the White Rose is a good movie but it is also a product of its time. It's a little cheesy at times, considering the music and some of the melodramatic acting. To me the only convincing actor of the film was Ulrich Turkur who portrayed Willi Graf. He plays a relatively small roll but he is a fine actor. Counting this role, he has acted in three other movies based in Nazi Germany: "Bonhoeffer," "Amen," and "Stauffenberg." Lena Stolze, who portrayed Sophie, did an okay job at displaying Sophie's youth and enthusiasm; she looked the age and she even looked like the Sophie herself. But at times the character came across as silly as a young teen when she was in fact in her twenties. She failed to capture Sophie's depth and inner strength. I wish to high heavens that somebody would remake this movie. A few years ago, Angelica Houston was working to bring the story to the big screen once again, but unfortunately it has fallen by the way side. Christina Ricci was slated to star as Sophie, Albert Finney was to be Robert Mohr, and Liam Neeson had a role as well. I think with the release of "Sophie Scholl: The Final Days" over in Germany, Angelica Houston opted not to go through with it. However, I hope (and sometimes pray) that she might revive this project.
(...)

I join with others who have praised the content of the film and, at least in my opinion, the
wonderful acting done by Lena Stolz as Sophie. Yes, it is somewhat dated and there is a bit of melodramatic overacting (especially from Hans and Gisele). But it's minor and far exceeded by the overall skill with which Verhoeven presents and depicts the events. The music in particular is well handled, between the drone sound at times of fear or danger, and the more lighthearted score during the times of joy.

I do want to mention that there exists another version of the same film, which came out into the VHS rental market. From Teleculture. The difference with the original version is that this one is shorter by about 15 minutes. I wonder if it wasn't Verhoeven himself who did the editing because the two main scenes that get cut tighten the dramatic narrative and flow. And both occur at about the one hour point: the amazing emotional scene at the munitions plant between Sophie and the Russian girl is shortened, and then the Russia war scene that actually cuts the munitions plant scene in two is dropped. There are other snippets here and there but of little importance.

In addition - and this is even more important - the rental VHS version is not wide screen like the original. It's cropped and full screen. Normally I don't like this, but in this case I think it improves the film. In the first place, this is a movie that has numerous scenes that are very intimate and don't need the widescreen. The cropped version increases both the intimacy and adds to the claustrophobic nature of much of the film.

Finally, I would love to see a remastered DVD version. Both the original and the "rental" versions are somewhat washed out in color.

ps - For years I used this film in my high school history courses. I suspect it would also go over quite well in any class studying existentialism (much of the dialogue seems to be
actually written in this vein).

No matter what format....this is a wonderful film dealing with a unique and very heroic group of young people.