“A Hidden Life” – an award winning WWII saga to tug at your heart strings
Review by Penny Nair Price
World Wars One and two are acknowledged regularly in books, films, television dramas and of course on Remembrance Sunday each year. Stories abound in the daily press regarding different characters who have featured in these momentous wars and pubs are named after them, or ceremonies performed. Museums harbor collections of memorabilia which can also be bought at auctions, in the markets or in shops so these wars are known by every generation since their occurrence and emotions run deep. Anyone you might meet will have had family who fought in the wars and so “A Hidden Life” raises a sadness and poignancy about the horrific side of what soldiers were sent out to do in the name of both world domination and defence of their countries, ultimately being trained to kill or be killed in the process.
Director Terrence Malick, (The Thin Red Line and The Tree of Life are two of his many other films) has introduced this relatively rare story of a married man with children living in the Austrian countryside who objects to fighting and ultimately refuses to do so, although the priest and those in the church regard this as wrong. The ultimate penalty has to be seen when you watch the film which was two years in production. Stars August Diehl – Franz Jagerstatter and Valerie Pachner – Franziska Jagerstatter play the happily in love married couple with young children and a farm to run. Both Michael Nyquist and Bruno Ganz star in their final performances. Great attention to detail is paid to costumes and props not to mention stunning location shoots. Franz was an Austrian farmer and devout Catholic who might have died anyway if he had gone to fight but instead he fights those who want to send him to fight.
“A Hidden Life” premiered at Cannes in May this year. Director Terrence Malick won the Francois Chalais Prize and the prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the Cannes Film Festival and the film was nominated for The Palme d’Or. The music is by James Newton Howard. The film will be released on January 17th next year in the UK. The film had a budget of over $7M. The Ultimate name for Franz was to be a traitor.
Expect to see a film which is longer than usual and sensitively tuned to the viewpoint of those who wanted a life where negatives were not at play to disrupt happiness, peace, family togetherness and contentment. It’s a story that clearly affects our current generation throughout the world wherever conflict and war have toppled a peaceful regime into that of conflict and negativity.