A HIDDEN LIFE (2020) FILM REVIEW

****

12A, 174 Mins

Terence Malick's best film in 22 years.

With perfume ad whisperings kept to a minimum and a remarkable absence of blades of grass swaying in the wind, 'A Hidden Life' (2020) represents Terence Malick's best film in 22 years. On the surface, that's not saying much considering the notoriously cryptic auteur's last two movies - 'Knight of Cups' (2016) and 'Song to Song' (2017) - were essentially expensive Calvin Klein commercials fraudulently claiming to be art with a capital "F".

However there's enough film-making finesse and real-world grit here to offer itchings of the great cinematic maestro we all knew up until 'The Thin Red Line' (1998). Set in Nazi Austria, 'A Hidden Life' details the conscientious objection of real-life objector Franz Jaggerstatter (August Diehl) who is stripped of everything he holds dear when the regime learn of his refusal to serve Hitler.

Flashing between Jaggestatter's imprisoned life awaiting execution and that of his wife (Valerie Pachner) and children back on their quaint farm, the film is at its best when shining light on the psychological trauma of seperation. Actors Diehl and Pachner must be praised for their heartfelt performances which delve deep into the fractured minds of a loving couple torn apart by conflict.

As ever, clarity has never been Malick's strong point and non-devotees will surely be tested by 'A Hidden Life's refusal to play this story in linear fashion as it intercuts grounded horrors with existential monlogues that whiff of arty farty indulgence. Your bum will also be numbed by the rather excessive 174 min length.

And yet - while I certainly craved more rigour - I got so much else that any po-faced pretensions merely faded into the fog. No one understands the power of the moving image better than Mr. Malick and he serves up mouth-watering scenery accompanied by a score chiming with vertiginous Violins that will have eyes and ears twinkling.

Add all this to poignant human drama and, on a pure film-making front, this couldn't be better...
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