Movie Review: A Hidden Life
SPOILER ALERT: I’ll discuss aspects of character and plot in this review, so you should definitely watch this film before reading the review. If you’d like to see a note about the content in the film, you can jump down to the bottom of the page.
There’s a passage of Scripture that, especially in my adult life, has challenged me. This passage is mere verses before one of the most quoted verses in the Bible (and one often taken out of context). This was God’s message to the Israelites in exile. As Jonathan Brooks writes in his book Church Forsaken: Practicing Presence in Neglected Neighborhoods, this was “the place they did not want to be.”
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”
There are some people who are called to lives without fanfare. Through a simple life - one that isn’t world-changing - they are called to bring welfare to the place in which they live. The children spoken of in this passage would be born into an exile that was not of their own making. Yet they were still called to seek the welfare of that place of exile.
What of the lives in exile today? What of the people about whom we never hear news? What of the faithful ones, who live lives of simplicity that make no headlines or don’t go viral? What is the purpose of a hidden life?
Terrence Malick’s new film A Hidden Life depicts the real-life story of Franz Jagerstatter (August Diehl) - an Austrian farmer who lived a hidden life during his time on earth. The irony is that, since his death, his life has been far from hidden. He was declared a martyr by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 and was later beatified and given a feast day in the Catholic Church on May 21, his birthday. Now his life is the basis for a feature film by one of the great directors in film history. But all of this came long after his death in 1943. During his life, he would not have any inkling that he would be revered or remembered in any way.
Malick’s film depicts Jagerstatter’s life in all its simplistic glory. As a farmer, he and his wife, Fani (Valerie Pachner) live in the idyllic countryside of Sankt Radegund in Upper Austria. At one point, the title for Malick’s film was meant to be Radegund, and the setting is certainly another character in this film. All of Malick’s films have a reverence for nature, and this one is no different. Some of my favorite moments in the film are when the camera luxuriates in the mountainous scenery and the beauty that constantly surrounds the Jagerstatter family. In this way, it is setting the necessary foundation for this story. Franz and Fani love their life in the mountains. Yes, it may be simple and it may involve difficult farm work, but they love it. This is their paradise. Much like the Israelites of Jeremiah 29, the Jagerstatters have a home and it is something to cherish. But Franz will soon come face to face with his own form of exile.
The film actually begins with World War II era images of Hitler and the Nazi party. Here, it sets the time and place for the viewer and also portends a sense of dread. There is no setup needed for such images. We all understand them and the evil they represent. Even when we see the beautiful vistas of the film’s early scenes, that dread from the opener is never far away.
All Austrian men are forced into military service. Franz is pulled out of his idyllic farm life to military training at the nearby Enns garrison. While there, he comes face to face with some of evils of wartime. He is also made aware that all members of the German military must swear an oath to Hitler. When he is sent back to Sankt Radegund on a farming waiver, he begins to consider his own feelings about all of it.
Back with his wife and their children, he begins to find clarity. He cannot fight for Germany. Despite the feelings of others in their community, he feels firmly that this is the right thing to do. Now all that is left is to wait for the call. And the waiting is excruciating.
The acting performances are absolutely fantastic. Actors in a Malick movie have a massive undertaking. They must be able to evoke and convey when they may not have much dialogue. They must be okay with the camera finding small moments at the fringes of scenes that suddenly take the main focus. Diehl conveys so much in looks and movements. He carries the weight of Franz’s careful consideration of the situation which moves into agonizing territory. And Pachner is absolutely fantastic as Fani. She must carry many scenes where Franz is away. She toils and cares for the children, and it would be easy to see Franz in a negative light because of this. But she and Franz made decisions together. She knows why he has made his decisions, and she supports him. But it takes their relationship to an incredibly difficult place where she isn’t sure whether her husband is dead or alive.
This takes place after Franz is finally called for active duty. He does not take the oath, and he is sent to prison. Finally, Fani is called out to see him. The German officers want her to try to talk sense into him, but she is determined only to love her husband. These scenes are incredibly powerful, and both Diehl and Pachner absolutely nail them.
This was an emotional experience for me in many ways. The spirituality of Malick’s direction is always moving for me. Here, it serves a story that makes you consider the very fabric of your life. Franz’s determination in the face of death is a testament to faith and faithfulness. In many ways, this film is a sibling to another favorite film of mine that focuses on spirituality - Martin Scorsese’s Silence. There, the question is whether or not true faith puts inner conviction above outer expressions. Here, the question is whether or not outward resolution even matters if no one will know about it. Characters repeatedly tell Franz that no one will hear about his faithfulness to his morals. It will be an empty gesture - one that history will never record. Franz had no way of knowing that the opposite would happen. In that moment, he was making a decision based solely upon his faith and his family. It must have seemed that his death would fade into the obscurity of history.
And yet he persisted. The courage of his choice is apparent, and yet I think the film becomes even more powerful because it shows that Fani displayed just as much courage. Her love for Franz was undying. When she could have demanded that he just take the oath and work as a paramedic, she instead supported her husband’s decision - though it meant she would take on the brunt of the farming and child-rearing at home. She persisted right along with him.
This is an absolutely beautiful film with some of the best cinematography of any film released this year. It is clearly Malick’s best film since The Tree of Life, which is legitmately one of the best films ever made. This film is very near to that one. They both find spirituality in the ordinary moments of life, and that is a beautiful thing.
Malick’s films sometimes have a loose relationship with plot. Yet his mastery is how he is able to communicate with images. We understand what is going on in Franz and Fani’s relationship even if there isn’t much dialogue or clear exposition. Malick trusts us as the audience to go with him on the journey with these characters. I understand that some find such Malickian tactics to be pretentious or lacking in some way. But I find them to be transcendant, and for viewers who are willing to go with Malick on this journey, A Hidden Life is Malick very near his most transcendent.
I’m not sure I ever remember a film that brought me to a place where I said a prayer during the closing credits, but for this one I did. I thanked God for the many hidden lives throughout history and the hidden lives around me today. I thanked Him for their faithfulness, and I asked for the capacity for faithfulness that doesn’t seek acclaim. And I thanked God that Terrence Malick made this film.
It is one of the best I’ve ever seen.
NOTE ON CONTENT: This film is rated PG-13, and as such the difficult elements are tamer than what you might expect to see from an adult drama in modern theaters. There is violence and intensity, but it is relegated to a few scenes. Much of the film focuses on the rural life of the Jagerstatters. This is a lyrical, beautiful film. It is one of the most powerful that I’ve seen.