Movies for Our Time
I was in New York City the other weekend and saw two films, "V for Vendetta" and "Sophie Scholl: The Final Days." Both are excellent, especially the latter, and both make political points relevant to today's world. "Vendetta," is about an anti-government terrorist in England at some unspecified point in the future. It's a great story, kind of Charles Bronson meets "1984." It forces the viewer to contemplate the difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter, and at least think about when violence (mainly against public buildings here) might become a justifiable tactic against a government that lies to the public and keeps people docile through fear of terrorism. The director makes rather obvious parallels to our current political situation that only a complete idiot could miss, which is one reason conservative reviewers tend to hate this movie.
In "Sophie Scholl," we see a brilliant performance by German actress Julia Jentsch in the title role of a young woman, a Munich college student, who sacrifices her life in the anti-Nazi cause in 1943 after the war had turned decisively against Germany in the catastrophic Battle of Stalingrad. It is based closely on a true story about the White Rose movement. The scenes of her interrogation by Gestapo agent Mohr come right from the actual transcripts, which were found in East Germany after reunification. If Lutherans had saints, Sophie would be high on the list. Her religious faith sustains her as she catapaults toward her doom, and she uses her last days to rail against the brutal Nazi regime. The ending is grim, but not bloody (at least on camera). Lets hope the Midtown gets this one soon.
I should say right now that I'm not comparing Bush to Hitler. But in "Sophie Scholl," we see what can happen when courts are politicized. The Nazi's had what they called the People's Court, which sounds comical in light of the old TV series, but wasn't at all. Headed by Dr. Roland Freisler, an ardent Nazi, the People's Court was used for political offenses, such as "defeatism," one of the charges against Sophie Scholl and her friends. Freisler actually did scream in court at defendants--that wasn't made up for the movie. Freisler died in an Allied bombing raid on Berlin later in the war.