A Hidden LifeIt is one of the hardest things to do--to say "no" when everyone else says "yes"...to follow what you know is right and good despite the way the wind blows. A Hidden Life is a historical drama about an Austrian farmer named Franz Jägerstätter (August Diehl), who--despite the protestations by his fellow villagers and the Nazi military--refuses to pledge loyalty to Adolf Hitler in the midst of World War II. Franz, his wife, Franziska--a.k.a. "Fani"--(Valerie Pachner), and his three daughters suffer ostracization, chastisement, and even abuse by their community for their presumed obstinance...and Franz suffers far worse by the Nazis after he is drafted. Yet each stone thrown is further evidence of the evil Franz fights, if only through silence.
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Written and directed by Terrence Malick, A Hidden Life is a majestic depiction of one of history's unsung heroes. Although he was declared a martyr by the Catholic Church after his death at the hands of his captors, Franz is depicted as a man on a figurative island here, alone with his convictions. He and his family are increasingly treated with scorn and disdain in his halcyon farming village of St. Radegund, made to feel that their refusal to embrace Hitler's ideology comes from selfish ignorance rather than bravery. In keeping with Malick's signature style of cinematic poetry, A Hidden Life emphasizes emotion and mood over dialogue and narrative to tell its story. Although this approach sounds ill-suited to the retelling of a historical event, it is precisely because of this that A Hidden Life breaths new life into that tired workhorse of cinema--that is, the "World War II movie"--in the same way that his The Thin Red Line did. Rather than simply regurgitate history at its audience, this film puts them into the soul of Franz and his family. The earliest images of the film are of the gorgeous mountains of Austria, verdant and cloud-covered. As always, narration in Malick's films is a window into the inner thoughts of his characters, and in A Hidden Life, it focuses on the relationship between Franz and Fani, including their courtship many years prior. He recalls the sense of freedom that came from riding his motorcycle through and around the village, and she thinks back fondly on that lovely dress she wore when she met Franz in the village square, at the outdoor tavern which remains years later. Franz and Fani play games with their daughters--he is blindfolded, and they clang cowbells to give him the faintest of hints as to their whereabouts. They milk cows, they repair fences, and they thresh wheat and cut grass in the meadows with scythes and sickles. This is not just the story of a conscientious objector, but of a family like yours or mine. A Hidden Life consciously avoids the trappings of the World War II movie by truly allowing its audience to sympathize and identify with its protagonists rather than simply cart them from plot point to plot point. And despite some harrowing moments of violence, it also exercises the acme of restraint when it comes to depicting Nazi atrocities. Yes, they happened and were horrible--of that there is no question. But Malick prefers to establish this sense of dread and despair within his audience--and is more than capable of doing so--without exploitative or gratuitous violence.
One of the repeated questions put to Franz in his silent protest against Hitler is if he believes that what he is doing will matter, or will be remembered. As it turned out, Franz's story was not well known until decades after his murder--not until 1964, in fact, when sociologist Gordon Zahn published a biography about him titled "In Solitary Witness". Franz is constantly pushed to acquiesce to the majority, who somehow have been convinced that Hitler's campaign of terror is for their benefit. This constant effort to break down Franz's will recalls another recent film about persecution: Martin Scorsese's Silence. Both films depict historical events where lone rebels do their utmost to resist the tide of hatred through their convictions, buffeted at every turn by a government that is bent on breaking their spirit and turning them into just another obedient citizen. It seems horrifying today to think that someone who stood up against tyranny might have gone unremembered, yet it can be surmised that Franz was not alone in his silent martyrdom. The people who try to compel Franz to bend his knee to Hitler all pose this rhetorical question to him because they want him to yield to the majority, despite its abhorrent message of hate and evil. Released in 2019, A Hidden Life feels terribly timely in an era when rage and hate seem to dominate the media. People are continuously presented with black-and-white choices today that constantly force the position that "if you're not with us, you're against us", brooking no room for common ground or to challenge the message being purported as fact. As in Nazi Germany, propaganda rules the day, and people who will not stop and challenge the veracity of politicians and celebrities who make sweeping statements about the state of our nation believe that anyone who does must be aligned with "the enemy". A Hidden Life doesn't actively explore how seductive and subversive hate can be; instead, it presents the brainwashing of Europe by Hitler as a kind of madness that has altered the very mental fabric of all save for those few, open-eyed few, like Franz and his family. As a result, the parallels between life in Europe during World War II and our nation today become tragically and poignantly evident, and A Hidden Life becomes a film that implores its audience to reconsider adopting an intractable position of anger and spite at those who dare to have an opinion that differs from your own.
Recommended for: Fans of a compelling and insightful look at the perils of protesting villainy, as well as the moral obligation to do so, which is what makes a hero. A Hidden Life is a beautiful but sorrowful tale of how easy it can be to say that we stand for something greater than ourselves, yet reveals how hard the sacrifice that comes with actually upholding our values really is.
One of the repeated questions put to Franz in his silent protest against Hitler is if he believes that what he is doing will matter, or will be remembered. As it turned out, Franz's story was not well known until decades after his murder--not until 1964, in fact, when sociologist Gordon Zahn published a biography about him titled "In Solitary Witness". Franz is constantly pushed to acquiesce to the majority, who somehow have been convinced that Hitler's campaign of terror is for their benefit. This constant effort to break down Franz's will recalls another recent film about persecution: Martin Scorsese's Silence. Both films depict historical events where lone rebels do their utmost to resist the tide of hatred through their convictions, buffeted at every turn by a government that is bent on breaking their spirit and turning them into just another obedient citizen. It seems horrifying today to think that someone who stood up against tyranny might have gone unremembered, yet it can be surmised that Franz was not alone in his silent martyrdom. The people who try to compel Franz to bend his knee to Hitler all pose this rhetorical question to him because they want him to yield to the majority, despite its abhorrent message of hate and evil. Released in 2019, A Hidden Life feels terribly timely in an era when rage and hate seem to dominate the media. People are continuously presented with black-and-white choices today that constantly force the position that "if you're not with us, you're against us", brooking no room for common ground or to challenge the message being purported as fact. As in Nazi Germany, propaganda rules the day, and people who will not stop and challenge the veracity of politicians and celebrities who make sweeping statements about the state of our nation believe that anyone who does must be aligned with "the enemy". A Hidden Life doesn't actively explore how seductive and subversive hate can be; instead, it presents the brainwashing of Europe by Hitler as a kind of madness that has altered the very mental fabric of all save for those few, open-eyed few, like Franz and his family. As a result, the parallels between life in Europe during World War II and our nation today become tragically and poignantly evident, and A Hidden Life becomes a film that implores its audience to reconsider adopting an intractable position of anger and spite at those who dare to have an opinion that differs from your own.
Recommended for: Fans of a compelling and insightful look at the perils of protesting villainy, as well as the moral obligation to do so, which is what makes a hero. A Hidden Life is a beautiful but sorrowful tale of how easy it can be to say that we stand for something greater than ourselves, yet reveals how hard the sacrifice that comes with actually upholding our values really is.