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Old January 15th, 2020 #1
steven clark
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 2,277
Default A Hidden Life

A Hidden Life is the story of Franz Jaegerstaetter, an Austrian farmer who resisted Hitler, was imprisoned, then executed, and became a kind of holy man for Catholics and Christians in resisting Hitler.

The movie is by Terence Malick, who did The New World and Tree of Life, and he's an arty director looking for 'meaning.' This means, among other things, his films are loooonnnnggg, and so this one is.

Now, I liked a lot of things about the movie. It was filmed in Austria, and captures the mountains and land there very well. The high peaks and brooding, overcast skies reminded me when I was stationed in Germany and visited the area. He also shows us the peasant, farmer's world, with its crops, harvesting, silences, folk festivals, and a deep concern for individuals. You can almost say that, for an anti-Hitler movie, this is very Volkish, and I liked the use of German and Austrian actors, especially August Diehl and Jaegerstaetter, and Valeris Pachner as his wife. They have a real, German look, and could almost have been models for any National Socialist posters.
Bruno ganz appears as an officer on the tribunal; again, very sympathetic, and also died before the film was released. Malick takes years to make a movie.

Franz's village, St. Radegund, is near Branau, where Hitler was born, and it's interesting that here, the Nazis admitted they couldn't recruit a lot of people. The church was too strong.

So, it's set well, and I care about Franz, although at times he's caught up in a mysticism and solitude that is almost unfathomable, even to his wife. It's made clear that Franz is Der Volk opposing Hitler. References to Hitler occur with machines…airplanes, trains…he is an enemy to the old ways, but it's never focused on what he is so evil about. Malick lets us decide…well, Hitler was evil, and there you have it.
Franz starts out obeying things. he's called up for training and gladly goes along, hoping that the war will be over soon (it is 1940). He begins a silent resistance, and it's noted by the villagers. They aren't openly hostile to him at first, but that changes. He should go along. The Fatherland is in danger. One man says the Hitler and the Nazis gave Germany and Austria back it's dignity. Then, women complain: their husbands are being called up to fight: why won't Franz do his share?
Franz, holy and almost a hermit, won't give in.

Now, at this point, I compare the movie to Jo-Jo Rabbit, which I reviewed here earlier, and this film has more dignity. It is also strange that we never are shown why Hitler is bad…he's just bad, and there it is. In this Volkish world, no mention is made of the Jews, and this is another example of films I've seen recently where the precious Holocaust isn't quite drummed up. Other films got criticized for this, but A Hidden Life has gotten high praise.
Also, surprisingly for many, the Nazis aren't shown as being all that bad. Again and again, Nazi officials tell Franz if he just agrees to do medical service, he won't be punished. No, he opposes Hitler, and that settles it. When he is finally arrested, he's even allowed a lawyer, who once again tells Franz to just do medical duty or at least apply as a C.O.
This is a far cry from 'za brutal Nazi und torturing all who disobey za Fuhrer!'
Here, they mostly wear suits and are pretty reasonable.
One official argues if Franz won't go, someone else will go in his place. This bothers him, but he won't break down.

Franz is eventually taken to Berlin. Tortured? Suffers? yes, but so did a lot of other people on either side. I especially liked the executioner's scenes, the executioner wearing a top hat and tails…as German executioners used to do. Also, the guillotine is used…not mass, public hangings as in Jo-Jo Rabbit. This is more realistic, and gripping. (although when you think about it, for all its dread reputation, the guillotine is a pretty humanitarian way to kill people).

So, Franz dies, behind a curtain, almost rubbed out like a spot by an eraser, but his wife endures, life goes on, and eventually Franz receives the postwar adulation he has now. I don't quite understand it. Sure, he opposed Hitler, and he was a devout Catholic, almost a mystic, but to be almost canonized by the church?

Anyway, I go along with Orwell who argued against pacifism because if you are opposed to killing, someone else has to kill for you.

Also, Franz opposed Hitler's aggression, but many of us on this website and others see it less as naked aggression then a defensive war against a circle of enemies. Certainly, when you read of Morgenthau, Roosevelt, and Churchill argue for Germans to be exterminated and starved by the million, you understand that it wasn't a war against the Nazis…it was a war against Germans. A Hidden Life doesn't take this route; Malick agrees Hitler was evil, he had to be resisted.

There was so much to like about this film in the acting, setting, and what I again restate is the even-handed depiction of Nazi officials, but it is very repetitious, and at three hours, an hour could easily have been cut. I think how Clint Eastwood made Hacksaw Ridge with the same message of pacifism, but got to the point a LOT quicker, but that was a commercial, not an 'artistic' film.

At the last twenty minutes, i got tired of the long pauses, continued camera shots and facial studies. 'For God's sakes,' I almost shouted, 'just kill him and get it over with.'

A Hidden Life is a strong film, and Franz Jaegerstaetter is an intriguing and almost heroic character, although most of us would argue he was wrong and
had Christian tunnel vision. But it had a strong dignity, and the director obviously respected his subject, and avoided cartoon Nazis like in Jo-Jo Rabbit or The SOund of Music. And yes, no Jews here.

You might want to see it, but rent the DVD and have a good couch. It is looonnngg.
 
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