Movie Review - A Hidden Life

The film closes with a quote from George Eliot. "The growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs." Written and directed by Terrence Malick, this film is a biographical look at Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian conscientious objector during World War II. Malick is clearly holding this man up as a hero. The Catholic Church beatified Jägerstätter in 2007 nearly 65 years after Jägerstätter's death. He was notable for opposing the Nazis and Hitler, specifically for not serving in the military and not taking an oath that soldiers and civil servants were forced to take while under Nazi occupation. Jägerstätter wasn't the first conscientious objector, but he became the patron saint of conscientious objectors or the emblem of conscientious objection. It's not sure why he became this emblem. He was a religious man, but an Austrian priest named Franz Reinisch who was executed for conscientious objection inspired Jägerstätter. Why wasn't Reinisch beatified? Why was it Jägerstätter?

It's no question that what Jägerstätter did was heroic in that it was brave and the man had the courage of his convictions. He stood up for what he believed, which is the evil that was the Nazis and Hitler. Yet, there is an argument that is made of what his conscientious objection actually accomplished or who did it help. He was called into serving in the military, which he didn't want to do, because he knew he would be fighting on the wrong side. He would be fighting good people, which he didn't want to do. He didn't want to participate in the killing of good people. Malick's film though doesn't underscore this point. It's more about whether or not Jägerstätter simply will sign a piece of paper affirming Hitler's oath. Malick intimates that all Jägerstätter had to do was sign the paper, but there's no underlining of his conscription and what would have happened to him if sent to fight in the war.

August Diehl (Inglourious Basterds and The Counterfeiters) stars as Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian farmer who is living a very pastoral existence with his wife and young children in a beautiful valley near a very simple village in the late 1930's and early 1940's. He and his wife seem to be wheat farmers. They also seem to operate a mill that makes flour for bread. Valerie Pachner co-stars as Frani, the wife to Jägerstätter and the mother to his children. When her husband refuses to sign Hitler's oath and he's subsequently arrested, she is left alone to face the bigotry of the people of the village who think her husband a traitor. She also has to do most of the farm work and rearing of the children by herself. Yes, she has her sister and mother-in-law there, but most of the work is put upon her.

Halfway through the film, it becomes all about the two of them dealing with the consequences. Franz has to deal with his imprisonment, as well as the physical abuses that he has to endure while behind bars. Frani has to deal with the psychological abuses that she has to endure as having been left behind. She's shunned and she has to handle it. She might not be behind bars, but she is put into a kind of prison as well.

It's funny to see this film in the same year as Jojo Rabbit because both films do a similar thing. Both films incorporate archival, black-and-white footage of Hitler and people rallying or marching for him. Other than that, the two films are completely different. Jojo Rabbit is a silly comedy that is satirizing the Nazis. This film is a love story that forms the foundation for a statement of faith and tapping into the themes as that George Eliot quote suggests. Jojo Rabbit is more secular an experience, whereas Malick's film is deeply religious and does a good job of sweeping you up into its faith.

For those who are familiar with Malick's filmmaking style, one won't be surprised here. However, newcomers might be dismayed by the lack of dialogue, the overabundance of voice-over narration and the supreme overabundance of nature shots, like landscapes and plant-life. Malick is well-known for capturing geography gorgeously, as well as the direction of people within that geography. It's the longest-running of Malick's film, if you discount the extended version of The Tree of Life (2011), so that overabundance of nature is really an overabundance. Yet, it makes sense in a film like The New World (2005) as well as this one because it's about people who are of nature. In this case, it's farmers who tend to the land as part of their livelihood. However, some might find that it gets a bit repetitive, but the way that Malick's camera moves, the flow of the editing along with the incredible musical score makes all the scenes feel vital.

It's odd that some people would make the complaint that it's repetitive, but those same people might enjoy a TV series for year after year. TV shows by nature are repetitive, but the amount of time that one spends with characters are helpful to immerse you into the world of those characters. The more time you spend with people also helps to empathize with them, especially if you see those people expressing joy and love. There is a moment in this film where Franz and Frani have been separated and then are reunited. That moment where they come back together is probably one of the most joyous and loving moments I've seen in cinema all year, if ever. Malick's camera also lingers on the moment in one, continuous take that really underscores the moment in a great way.

Some might complain that the film can feel like it's dragging. However, that technique is effective, particularly toward the end of the film. The film can feel like it's dragging or it's elongating something that is inevitable, but Malick does so in order to sell the horror and fear that comes from knowing that something bad is going to happen and having no power to stop it or accepting one's fate. For some though, it will be a triumph of a man accepting his fate as a matter of his religious faith. For me, it's a tragedy that embraces sacrifice, which read as selfish because again I'm not sure what Jägerstätter's choice achieved.

Alexander Fehling (Labyrinth of Lies and Inglourious Basterds) and Matthias Schoenaerts (The Mustang and Rust and Bone) are two young European actors who play either lawyers or counsels for Franz. Both essentially make the argument that his refusal to sign Hitler's oath doesn't achieve anything. It makes him an emblem sixty years later and would inspire conscientious objectors to be so with nothing but the strength of their faith, but, in the here and now, Franz's choice does nothing to help anyone and in the immediate aftermath only hurts his family. Yet, it's a tragedy that is heart-wrenching and builds to a knockout.

Rated PG-13 for some violent images.
Running Time: 2 hrs. and 54 mins.

In select theaters, including DC, Philly and Annapolis.