Festival de Cannes Official Competition Prospectus – A Hidden Life

A HIDDEN LIFE

Terrence MALICK — GERMANY, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA — 173 minutes

IN A NUTSHELL

A tale of the farmer, Franz Jägerstätter (August Diehl), and his wife, Franziska (Valerie Pachner), and their children. They live a kind of idyllic life in the rural village. Being called to service, Jägerstätter refuses to honor Hitler’s regime, following Austria’s surrender to Germany in the Second World War, and is imprisoned for it. Franziska is left behind to graft alone, while Jägerstätter lives a haul in prison. (words by Robin Write)

CRITICAL RESPONSE

“Sure, there are big dramatic turns here and there, but goddamn is this a slog to behold. I am convinced that, judging by some of the powerful scenes in this film, and there are quite a few, a masterpiece is indeed hidden somewhere in there. In fact, the entire final half hour should be kept, it is absolutely perfect in every way and proves the man can still give us that immense cinematic high he used to. There’s another issue I have with him these days, he seems to be recycling the same exact shot compositions and images as his previous 4 films.” — Jordan Ruimy, World of Reel

“Terrence Malick often wrestles with the cosmic, the spiritual and the eternal, but with A Hidden Life, the meditative writer-director attacks his usual themes from a rewardingly timely and urgent perspective. As is customary for the filmmaker, A Hidden Life’s characters frequently communicate through voiceover — in this case, letters back and forth between Franz and Fani drawn from actual correspondence — while Jörg Widmer’s floating camera captures sublime images of unsullied nature or individuals consumed by their spiritual suffering.” — Tim Grierson, Screen Daily

“The style that Malick has found for this subject is very much the same as ever: an overpowering sense of being ecstatically, epiphanically in the present moment, an ambient feeling of exaltation created by a montage of camera shots swooning, swooping and looming around the characters who appear often to be lost in thought, to an orchestral or organ accompaniment, and a murmured voiceover narration of the characters’ intimate but distinctly abstract feelings and memories.” — Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

PRIZE PROSPECTS

We so want to be praising Terrence Malick once again. As well, A Hidden Life was the final roles of Michael Nyqvist and Bruno Ganz, who sadly since passed away. The film’s stars, August Dielh and Valerie Pachner, are given meatier substance than merely allowing the camera to float around them. As good as they are, the performances are likely too reactionary to be considered for acting honors. Add to that, the film’s reputation is shaky given the diversion of historical context in the story. But we just want to be praising Terrence Malick once again.

So, this is yet another polarizing film from the poetic Malick, only this time there does seem to be some positive gasps of breath in its initial reception. Many claiming A Hidden Life is his best film since the Palme d’Or winning The Tree of Life, which in perspective is hardly high regard, given the bombing of To the Wonder, Knight of Cups, and Song to Song. I am just not buying it, for any award, but nice of Terry to show up. (words by Robin Write)