A Hidden Life was released on December 13th, 2019. Written and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Terrence Malick it tells the story of Blessed Franz Jägerstätter (August Diehl), an Austrian conscientious objector who was executed for refusing to swear an oath of allegiance to Hitler during the Second World War.
Jägerstätter is a man of conscious who finds himself in a world that seems to be going mad. His opposition to the Nazi's turn his friends and neighbors against him. He looks to the Church for help but the best they can do is advise caution. Only his family, particularly his wife Fani (Valerie Pachner) are supportive but even they doubt him at times. When Franz receives the letter commanding him to report for enlistment she begins to waver. "You can't change the world, the world's stronger" she tells him. This point is made by many others throughout the film: who will know of Jägerstätter's civil disobedience outside of his family and community? What propose will his protest serve?
Near the end of the film Fani comes to see Franz along with their parish priest, who advises Franz to sign the oath as the war will soon be over and "God doesn't care what you say, only what's in your heart." There are echoes here of the scene in
A Man for All Seasons where Thomas More's family come to visit him in the tower and try
to convince him to take the Oath of Supremacy but while More was a
public figure whose actions would provide an example for others, Franz
is a poor farmer whose arrest and execution go largely unnoticed. This is a big part of his dilemma. How can he sacrifice himself, and leave his wife and children destitute, when his death will ultimately be covered up and his witness amount to nothing? Is his first duty to his family or to his conscious? Jägerstätter choose to follow his conscious, and paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Malick is very subjective in his storytelling choices. He does not provide the audience with a lot of information which would contextualize the situation. From Franz point of view this is the end of the world. Hitler, to him, seems like the Anti-Christ, a charismatic but evil ruler who has turned the hearts of nearly everyone around him. The film's minimal dialogue emphasizes this feeling, as does Malick's use of discontinuous, documentary style shooting and editing and the cross-cutting with footage of Hitler in the Eagle's Nest spending time with his family. Hitler, to the Austrian and German people of the 1940's was not the monstrous, distant figure of the past he is to us today, but a flesh and blood leader, one who instilled a sense of pride in them. Malick's (as always) experimental techniques bring this reality home.
Of course there is also a generous amount of voice-over, which is Malick's trademark. In some of his other films his over-reliance on this as a narrative device bothered me, it seemed he was trying too hard to drive the point home. Here though, it works quite well, serving as a natural extension of the film's action to further reveal the characters' thoughts and feelings. Indeed, what is left unsaid is just as important as what is said. The only misstep, I feel, is the closing title, a qoute from George Eliot that sums up the film's central idea, perhaps a little too succinctly, "the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistorical 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."
A Hidden Life is a slow film and, like all Malick's work, is often a reflection of the beauty of nature, and of a simple life lived with one's family. Before the war comes to St. Radegund, Franz and Fani live an idyllic existence, a living witness of the monastic ideal of "ora et labora" (prayer and work). Once they are separated, Fani's life becomes increasingly difficult, as she is shunned by the people of the village who view Franz as a traitor, yet she still finds time to offer help to those around her and is in turn helped by them (though covertly). The second half of the film alternates between her and Franz, often accompanied by narration from one or the other in the form of letters. Though many of his fellow prisoners feel utterly forsaken by God, Franz, as his life in prison goes on, begins to draw closer and closer to Him and begins to see things from a new, more saintly perspective. "When you give up the idea of surviving at any price, a new light floods in", he muses.
A wiry, scarecrowish presence at times, Diehl is great as Jägerstätter, his silent expressions speaking volumes for the conflict going on inside the man. Valerie Pachner contrasts this as the stalwart, supporting Fani, who brings so much joy into Franz life early on and who struggles so much in his absence, finally breaking down emotionally at the end of the film. Jörg Widmer's cinematography is simply beautiful. Alternatively stark and bucolic it perfectly expresses Malick's unique worldview. The score by James Newton Howard, while effective, is a bit overbearing at times. The more powerful moments, musically, are accompanied by classical pieces including works by Bach, Handel, and Dvorak.
A reflection on martyrdom, social responsibility, and good and evil
, A Hidden Life is a mesmerizing, challenging work. It's one of the best films of the past decade.
Score: 10/10
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