Based on real events, A Hidden Life tells the story of Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian farmer who refused to fight beside the Nazis during World War II.
A man who had “to stand up to evil.”
For his stance, Jägerstätter (played by August Diehl) was executed in 1943. He is now being considered for sainthood by the Catholic Church.
Jägerstätter was survived by his wife Fani (played by Valerie Pachner) and three daughters.
For its deeply spiritual storytelling, A Hidden Life has mostly been favorably reviewed, with more than one critic saying it is writer-director Terrence Malick’s best film since The Tree of Life which screened in 2011.
Malick’s other films include Pacific-war drama The Thin Red Line in 1998 and Badlands which was his debut effort in 1973. Read on for a sampling of reviews.
JUDGEMENT
“The film’s generosity of spirit is so great that it even allows some of the Nazis to experience moments of doubt, even though they’re never translated into positive action — as when a judge (the late, great Bruno Ganz, in one of his final roles) invites Franz into his office, questions him about his decisions, and thinks hard about them, with a disturbed expression. After Franz gets up from his chair and leaves the room, the judge takes his seat and looks at his hands on his knees, as if trying to imagine being Franz.” Matt Zoller Seitz, rogerebert.com
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“Despite its faults — a glacial three-hour running time and Malick’s overuse of oracular voice-overs to express his characters’ inner thoughts — the film does indeed succeed in being a species of religious experience. It has a powerful sense of the immanence of life. Franz’s stance is a deeply moral one, but his morality is based on his religious precepts. This is what differentiates A Hidden Life from so many Hollywood movies where people, without any religious underpinning, fight for what is right.” Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor
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“As Franz’s personal passion play unfolds, the beauty and sadness of his story have burrowed into the viewer’s consciousness on a level beyond mere narrative. A Hidden Life is indisputably the finest work Malick has produced in eight years, as an examination of faith, conviction and sacrifice, but also as proof of concept for his own idiosyncratic style. It marks an exhilarating return to form but also, more crucially, content.” Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
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“‘Mine is the smallest of crosses,’ Jägerstätter says with self-deprecation. He sees his own defiance as simple and obvious, a rejection of a regime that’s as far from his Christian values as he can imagine. Malick makes clear, however, how rare that sacrifice was, examining how the country around Jägerstätter — including its religious leaders — had to make a show of ignoring his plight. The current implications of A Hidden Life feel most pressing here: Malick is asking the audience (and himself) if they would capitulate in the face of tyranny or make Jägerstätter’s sacrifice. It’s a decision Malick memorializes beautifully, in a film that is his most affecting effort in almost a decade.” David Sims, The Atlantic
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“It is satisfying to record that Fani lived long enough to attend her husband’s beatification, an experience perhaps unique in the long annals of the church. A Hidden Life, which draws on the 2009 book Franz Jagerstatter: Letters and Writings From Prison, edited by Erna Putz, ends with her yearning to be reunited with Franz, an eventuality that it is not presumptuous to trust transpired at her death, age 100, in 2013.” John Mulderig, Catholic News Service
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“You won’t find the delirious, extended montages of Knight of Cups or the galactic scope of Tree of Life here. Instead, Franz winds up in a series of almost philosophical dialogues, with priests, bureaucrats, prisoners, neighbors. Actually, it’s probably more accurate to call these loose monologues, since Franz remains mostly quiet throughout. But his very presence poses a question to these individuals about the problem of evil. ‘Which side are you on, and why?’ he might as well be asking.” Bilge Ebiri, Vulture
See one of the trailers for A Hidden Life below.