Every day you learn something new is a good day. Yesterday I learned about a saintly Austrian conscientious objector Franz Jägerstätter, who refused to serve in Hitler's WWII army. Terrence Malick's film, "A Hidden Life" got lost in the midst of COVID. It premiered in Dec 2019 and by February 2020 was starting to open in theatres. We all know what happened next. Found it on a streaming service. Lush photography, a beautiful soundtrack of classical pieces, and outstanding performances.
Such a profound and inspiring story that I dug further into it. Turns out the famous monk Thomas Merton was also inspired by him and included his story in the 1968 book Faith and Violence. Although writer/director Malick is known for his impressionistic style (Thin Red Line, Days of Heaven), it strikes me that he deliberately secularized the life of the deeply devout Jägerstätter. No mention of his having sought a Papal blessing after his marriage, his membership in the Franciscan Third Order, or his beatification as a Catholic martyr in 2007 by Pope Benedict. My guess is that it was an effort to make the film more commercial.
By doing this, Malick obscured the true motivation of the protagonist and denied his audience access to the real meaning of his sacrifice. I do understand that he was not doing a documentary in the traditional sense, but believe he was obligated to be more expository in depicting the life story of such a heroic figure. Hinting at significant aspects of Jägerstätter's life or portraying them without providing context robbed the film of a fair amount of its power. In particular, the meeting with his local bishop about his crisis of conscience has much more meaning if you understand that he was doing so as a Franciscan. While the scenery of the Alpine village and the bucolic farmwork scenes had some relevance, there was far too much of it. I agree with another reviewer that Malick could have trimmed 30 minutes of this material without compromising it as a work of art.
The film's title comes from a passage by George Eliot in which he notes that the world becomes a better place through the accumulated grace from many "hidden" lives. While the film was a grueling and difficult march through one such life, it was a worthwhile introduction to one of humanity's best.
Such a profound and inspiring story that I dug further into it. Turns out the famous monk Thomas Merton was also inspired by him and included his story in the 1968 book Faith and Violence. Although writer/director Malick is known for his impressionistic style (Thin Red Line, Days of Heaven), it strikes me that he deliberately secularized the life of the deeply devout Jägerstätter. No mention of his having sought a Papal blessing after his marriage, his membership in the Franciscan Third Order, or his beatification as a Catholic martyr in 2007 by Pope Benedict. My guess is that it was an effort to make the film more commercial.
By doing this, Malick obscured the true motivation of the protagonist and denied his audience access to the real meaning of his sacrifice. I do understand that he was not doing a documentary in the traditional sense, but believe he was obligated to be more expository in depicting the life story of such a heroic figure. Hinting at significant aspects of Jägerstätter's life or portraying them without providing context robbed the film of a fair amount of its power. In particular, the meeting with his local bishop about his crisis of conscience has much more meaning if you understand that he was doing so as a Franciscan. While the scenery of the Alpine village and the bucolic farmwork scenes had some relevance, there was far too much of it. I agree with another reviewer that Malick could have trimmed 30 minutes of this material without compromising it as a work of art.
The film's title comes from a passage by George Eliot in which he notes that the world becomes a better place through the accumulated grace from many "hidden" lives. While the film was a grueling and difficult march through one such life, it was a worthwhile introduction to one of humanity's best.