University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies Legacy Theses 2012 Gender, Resistance and National Socialism in Contemporary Film Fell, Hannelore E. Fell, H. E. (2012). Gender, Resistance and National Socialism in Contemporary Film (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/13369 http://hdl.handle.net/1880/50001 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Gender, Resistance and National Socialism in Contemporary Film by Hannelore E. Fell A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS DEPARTMENT OF GERMANIC, SLAVIC AND EAST ASIAN STUDIES CALGARY, ALBERTA SEPTEMBER, 2012 © Hannelore E. Fell 2012 The author of this thesis has granted the University of Calgary a non-exclusive license to reproduce and distribute copies of this thesis to users of the University of Calgary Archives. Copyright remains with the author. Theses and dissertations available in the University of Calgary Institutional Repository are solely for the purpose of private study and research. They may not be copied or reproduced, except as permitted by copyright laws, without written authority of the copyright owner. Any commercial use or re-publication is strictly prohibited. The original Partial Copyright License attesting to these terms and signed by the author of this thesis may be found in the original print version of the thesis, held by the University of Calgary Archives. Please contact the University of Calgary Archives for further information: E-mail: [email protected] Telephone: (403) 220-7271 Website: http://archives.ucalgary.ca Abstract This thesis investigates the role of gender in representations and constructions of resistance to the Third Reich in two films. The White Rose (Verhoeven, 1982) tells the story of university students distributing anti-Nazi leaflets in Germany. The group leaders, Hans Scholl and his sister Sophie, are executed in 1943. Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (Rothemund, 2005) concentrates on the Gestapo interrogation of Sophie, and culminates in her trial and execution. The findings suggest that Verhoeven's focus on Sophie Scholl's gender intensifies the discrepancy between the Nazi regime and the resisters, advances political discourse and change, and garners public affection toward Sophie Scholl. While Rothemund also converges gender and resistance in Sophie Scholl's character, he de- historicizes the plot, making it timeless for an international audience not familiar with German resistance. Rothemund employs representations of Sophie Scholl to create a type of heroism that can be substituted to challenge any terror regime. ii Acknowledgements I wish to thank everyone associated with Germanic, Slavic and East Asian Studies (GSEA) for the opportunity, guidance, support, and help with an incredible journey, which undeniably needs fellow travellers. To begin with, I thank the friendly staff Sabine Gale and Amber Berg who assisted proficiently with administrative matters. The striving for excellence, enthusiasm, and passionate pedagogy of the professors in the German department inspired and motivated my fellow students and me. I am extending my gratitude to my supervisors, Dr. Florentine Strzelczyk and Dr. Sandra Hoenle, for their expertise, dedication, kindness, patience, encouragement, and compassion. I am grateful for the regular meetings, appropriate suggestions, and timely discussions that kept the thesis moving. I would like to thank Dr. Mary O'Brien and Dr. Horst Mastag for learning from the best as they provided leadership and guidance with my teaching assistantship. Dr. Hermina Joldersma's motto to the effect that only a finished thesis is a good thesis helped me stay focused. Many thanks to Rosvita Vaska, Taylor Family Digital Library (TFDL), for her indispensible timely assistance with my library search, and I appreciate the prompt advice from Leslie Potter, TFDL, and Keith Fewster (friend and fellow student) regarding thesis formatting. I am grateful for the financial support from the Faculty of Graduate Studies and GSEA, which helped me immensely every step of the way. My dear husband Manfred and family (Ben, Martine, Mackenzie, Madison, and Emily) provided a source of strength with their love, support, and interest in my endeavours. Thank you! I feel that all of the above words do not give justice for my gratitude, but with everyone's help, I am thankful that this is a finished thesis. iii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iii INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 Forms of Memory, Post-War Memory Discourse, and Memory Contests ......................2 Forms and Nature of Resistance ......................................................................................9 Film – History – Resistance – Gender ...........................................................................14 THE WHITE ROSE ...........................................................................................................21 A Brief Historical Overview ..........................................................................................21 Summary of the Leaflet Action of The White Rose ......................................................34 DIE WEISSE ROSE ( THE WHITE ROSE, 1982) ..............................................................35 Film, Politics, History, Controversy ..............................................................................38 Risky Actions .................................................................................................................43 Your Heads Will Roll Also ............................................................................................49 SOPHIE SCHOLL: DIE LETZTEN TAGE (SOPHIE SCHOLL: THE FINAL DAYS, 2005) .........................................................................................................................54 Gender, Emotions, Drama, Suspense .............................................................................59 Visual-Verbal Duels ......................................................................................................63 Constricting Spaces ........................................................................................................70 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................77 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................81 iv INTRODUCTION Film creates a world of history that stands adjacent to written and oral history. Robert A. Rosenstone1 Since the end of World War II, the era of National Socialism has been a focal point for filmmakers in Germany and abroad. Films, representing a multitude of genres, have dealt with the subject matter surrounding the Nazi regime and its implications. These films engage with this most atrocious chapter of German history and thereby respond to the different, conflicting and complex ways in which Germans and Germany as a nation have memorialized and remembered this era of their history. One of the means through which Germans today confront the National Socialist past is considering resistance to the Third Reich. A number of recent films have taken up this topic. Among the German resistance, the student group The White Rose2 has been one of the foci of recent German memory. The group's only female member, Sophie Scholl, has received particular attention as a symbol for the courage of German resistance. My thesis explores the connection between gender, resistance, memory, and film in two films about Sophie Scholl and The White Rose. 1. The White Rose (Die weiße Rose), written and directed by Michael Verhoeven, 1982 1 Rosenstone, Robert A. Visions of the Past: The Challenge of Film to Our Idea of History. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1995. Print. 2 The White Rose (not italicized) refers to the historic group or the representation of the historic group on film, and The White Rose (italicized) refers to Verhoeven's film. 1 2. Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (Sophie Scholl: Die letzten Tage), written by Fred Beinersdorfer, directed by Marc Rothemund, 2005 These films, by different directors and from different eras, can tell us about the shifting emphases of memory, about the connection between gender and resistance, and about the continued presence of the Nazi past in Germany today. Forms of Memory, Post-War Memory Discourse, and Memory Contests How the Nazi past should and could be remembered has been the subject of considerable debate in Germany, essentially from 1945 to the present. Bill Niven and Chloe Paver provide a wide-ranging investigation into Germany's memorialization and its many forms of commemorating the German past, mostly in response