"I will never be able to think of these events without being horrified." (Percy Adlon)
Fünf letzte Tage (1982)
Irm Herrmann.............……………Else Gebel
Lena Stolze........................…….Sophie Scholl
Joachim Bernhard................…….Helfer
Ossi Eckmuller....................…….Wachmann 1
Hans Stadlbauer................………Wachmann 2
Gert Burkard........................…....Pflichtverteidiger
Michael Cornelius................……..Hans
Philip Arp.........................…….....Philip
Hans Hirschmueller...........……….Mahr
Will Spindler......................……...Beamter G
On February 22, 1943 a 21 year old student, Sophie Scholl, was executed by guillotine
for her involvement in the anti-Nazi resistance movement. The last five days of her
life are seen here from the perspective of a fellow cellmate, Else Gebel. Percy Adlon
found relatives of Else Gebel, which helped him piece together the complex and strong
character of a woman 20 years Sophie’s senior, and through her he exposes an only
rarely seen picture of the 1943 Germany. We see the Gestapo personnel at the Wittelsbacher
Palais of Munich (then a prison/detention center where Sophie Scholl was held) not
as demonic personifications of Evil incarnate, but rather as minor Bavarian civil
servants doing their day to day administrative functions. Else’s testimonial, written
after Sophie’s death, expresses the silent shock that even the trial’s prosecutor
felt at the unbelievable quality of mundane everydayness and “upright middle-class
virtues” that legalized a death sentence for a young girl’s crime of composing, producing
and distributing anti-war leaflets. Ultimately, Adlon’s attitude allows for optimism
despite the tragedy: Scholl has the strength to remain true to her commitment and
Gebel becomes articulate (eventually literary) and rises above the deadening mediocrity
of life represented by the prison officialdom.
Written and directed by Percy Adlon
Director of Photography - Horst Lermer
Production Design - Heidi Luedi
Editor - Clara Fabry
Music - Franz Schubert, String Quartet “Death and the Maiden”, performed by Bartholdy-Quartett
TV producer - Heinz Bühmler
Produced by - Eleonore Adlon
A pelemele Film production with BR
Shot on 16mm Agfa stock in Munich (Bühler-Palais, Briennerstrasse) from February
15 to March 15, 1982.
Premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, September 1982, in competition.
GERMAN FILM AWARD in SILVER for the producers
And in GOLD for Lena Stolze and Irm Herrmann
BAVARIAN FILM AWARD for director Percy Adlon, 1983
OCIC-Prize, Venice, 1982
In German with English subtitles, 112 min
