The hills are alive with
the silence of Bressonian existentialism. A
Hidden Life (2019, Terrence Malick) is art of the highest order. Snippets
disseminated by the press hinted that Malick’s new film was his first linear
narrative since The New World (2005,
Malick), and that he is atoning for his indulgent wandering period that culminated
with the aimless hedonism and materialism of Knight of Cups (2015, Malick) and Song to Song (2017, Malick).
Part of that is true. Although using The New World for comparison is clearly
misleading. The contrast between the two films is that the earlier work depicts
the genocide of a country by white colonists told through individuals that
lived through the events in 1607 Virginia who played active roles on both sides
of the conflict. However, A Hidden Life
is based on a man and wife all but forgotten, whose actions were of little to
no consequence as citizens of Austria during WWII. Or were they? This is what
the film asks us to ponder ultimately.
Also in contrast to The New World, A Hidden Life’s
plot is minimal. FRANZ JÄGERSTÄTTER (August Diehl) refuses to vow allegiance to
Hitler—that’s the extent of any story development. But all of this serves
Malick’s purpose. As an artist, Malick gives his full attention and commitment
to portraying this historical footnote and elaborating on all of life’s big
questions, investing them with meaning, poetry, and beauty.
The contrast I responded to most in A Hidden Life is that between the
respective doctrines of the Christians and the Nazis. The film opens with old
black and white stock footage of Third Reich agitprop crowd rallies, then later
swastikas and Luftwaffe—these are images of the actual events, damaged, deteriorating. But the Catholic
cathedrals, murals, and holy processions are colorful and take up the whole
wide screen, from newly shot footage, fresh, crisp. Also I admire the subtlety in the ways scriptures from the Gospels are dropped into the dialogue: “My burden is light,” “He
never lets us have more than we can carry,” and where they're placed. Or it can be thought of as those who are devoted to God the Father
and those who are devoted to the Fatherland (and Hitler); the crucifix and the swastika.
A Hidden Life has many locked off shots,
something that never occurs in the last of Malick’s 5 films shot by Lubezki. But
there are still a majority of shots shot with wide lenses, I think a 16mm or
sometimes a 12 or 14 (credit here to a friend I know from film school, Huay,
who was Chivo’s assistant on Knight of
Cups and Song to Song). And
Malick’s edits are kinetic, poetic in astounding ways. What else did I notice?
Every shot in the entire film is daytime.
Is A
Hidden Life too long? I thought so, but no. I realized the subject matter
requires its length to feel the weight of it. This stuff isn’t just something you
rush through. And Malick’s elliptical narrative is every bit as spontaneously
nuanced as it’s ever been. The setting and attention to detail is realer than
real. The performances are perfection. And there are so many moments we get to
just find and be delighted to observe and ponder: the moment when Franz leaves the chair in the judge's chamber and the way Bruno Ganz as the judge sits in the
chair left vacant, his expression, his hesitation…
And finally no other filmmaker since
Kubrick has as extensive and exquisite taste in classical music and the talent
to place within their films. Does the word sublime get tossed around
gratuitously?
