Filmmaker Terrence Malick is one of the most significant (and, of late, prolific) living Christian artists, of any medium. That alone makes any new Malick film worthy of a Christian’s attention. But his latest film, A Hidden Life—the true WWII story of Franz Jägerstätter’s stand against Nazism and the acquiescence of nominal Christians—is especially noteworthy. The film is stylistically sublime and draws deep from the well of biblical inspiration, especially the psalms, the Gospels, and Paul’s prison epistles. Set in the Austrian Alps, the film is Malick’s cinematic Sermon on the Mount—a poetic and devastating exploration of the upside down kingdom of God. Malick’s film reminds Christians how world-changing the ethics of Jesus really are, and how radically the gospel subverts human systems of power, greed, and self-preservation. Malick’s film is not a simplistic assertion of Christianity’s ethical demands, however; nor is it a one-dimensional polemic to be read through the lens of contemporary American politics. It is a timely film, to be sure, but like any Malick film—its thematic concerns and humanity are timeless. Like the writings of Bonhoeffer (whose story bears similarities to that of Jägerstätter), Life is an unflinching meditation on the cost of discipleship—and how the “insanity” of belief and “foolishness” of the gospel are accusations not easily dismissed. As much as Malick’s sincere faith is evident in his filmmaking (especially since The Tree of LIfe), he respects those who find the experiential absence of God too high a barrier to faith. Indeed, the “hidden life” of the title is as much about Jägerstätter as it is about the God to whom he cries and prays; the God who is believed even when he isn’t felt or seen.
– Brett McCracken
- Directed by: Terrence Malick
- Produced by:
- Written by: Terrence Malick
- Music by: James Newton Howard
- Cinematography by: James Newton Howard
- Editing by:
- Release Date: 2019
- Running Time: 174
- Language: English, German, Italian
Arts & Faith Lists:
2019 Top 10 — #2