A Hidden Life
3 stars
Director: Terrence Malick
Stars: August Diehl, Valerie Pachner, Matthias Schoenaerts
Duration: 180 mins
Class: 15
KRS Releasing Ltd
Franz Jägerstätter (August Diehl) is a farmer who lives in the idyllic Austrian mountain village of St Radegund. He and his beloved wife Fani (Valerie Pachner) live a simple life farming their land and raising their three beautiful young daughters in a small but tight-knit community.
When World War II breaks out, life goes on ‒ to the Jägerstätters and their neighbours, the war is a faraway concept, and one that does not seem to concern them directly.
It is not long, however, before Franz is called up for basic military training. He is away from the family for a few months, but once his training is done, he is sent back home, much to Fani’s relief. In the meantime, France has surrendered, and it seems the war will soon be over. However, things only get worse, and Franz and other members of the community are eventually called up to fight.
On the first day with his new regiment, Franz declares his position as a conscientious objector and refuses to swear an oath of allegiance to Adolf Hitler. He is swiftly charged with treason, threatened with execution and thrown in prison, where only his undying love for his family and his strong faith keep him going.
A Hidden Life is the tenth full-length feature from the reclusive director Terrence Malick, a director whose career was launched over 40 years ago with the acclaimed Badlands.
Never one to cave in to Hollywood excesses or bother with mainstream constraints, Malick has built a career on a series of beautifully shot, haunting films, most of which have a philosophical bent in their examination of the human condition – a series of films that have been consistently ambitious in scope, challenging to audiences but never boring.
He unwaveringly endures the physical and emotional abuse he is subjected to with a marked nobility
That said, I confess to being unsure how to tackle A Hidden Life. It is certainly a story worth telling (it is based on a real person), and as the world around us seems to be getting more troublesome, it is always comforting to be reminded that good men of principle did exist. Yet, while the film bears all of Malick’s distinctive hallmarks – it is technically flawless – I felt that narratively and emotionally the film comes up short.
Malick elegantly establishes the unassuming farmer and his family’s story with swooping and stunning shots of the mountainside terrain as Franz and Fani go about their everyday lives. Impossibly lush and verdant fields populated by animals and birds abound; shifting to bright white snow-capped landscapes as the seasons change.
It is majestic and a wonder to behold and the mountain environs make many picture-perfect appearances to constantly remind us of Franz’s tranquil life before it all becomes dangerous.
On the flipside, as is his wont, Malick takes his time to tell the story, with long lingering scenes in which not much happens; dialogue is kept to a bare minimum, and oftentimes characters seem to be having one-sided conversations with little resolution, while there is plenty of introspective voice-over.
These are tools that have served Malick well in the past, yet here, despite the patience-testing length, we never truly get under Franz’s skin to really understand what fuels his resolve.
He unwaveringly endures the physical and emotional abuse he is subjected to with a marked nobility. The worse his situation gets, the more he relies on his faith as he prays hard, his devotion washing over him, while he conjures memories of his family to give him strength and almost patiently awaits his fate. He remains impassive – even as his friends and the local priest and bishop implore him to just do what he is asked to do and keep his thoughts to himself.
To his credit, Diehl tackles the role with remarkable commitment and is eminently watchable; as is Pachner as his Fani, who has to put up with the abuse she in turn gets from the local villagers who look at Franz as a traitor. Equally strong cameo performances from celebrated actors such as the late Bruno Ganz and Matthias Schoenaerts add some interest.
Malick fans will undoubtedly revel in the auteur’s intimate look at this admirable noble man. At one point, Franz says: “If leaders are evil, what does one do?”
Stand up for one’s principles, certainly, yet it must be said that Franz’s stoicism and his refusal to show his feelings makes it frustratingly difficult to engage with him on an emotional level, so the viewer becomes an observer rather than a participant in his painful journey.
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