Terrence Malick may not have the clout of the biggest names in Hollywood, but it’s always an event when he makes a movie and it finally makes it to the big screen. His creations have been met with critical acclaim and disdain alike, but he’s nothing if not a conversation starter. From Badlands to The Tree of Life, eyebrows raise on cinephiles’ faces when they see Malick’s name in the credits.
After premiering back in May at the Cannes Film Festival, A Hidden Life has officially arrived in theaters as of last week. It looks to expand to more theaters this weekend. Here are a few things to know before heading in.
It Is The 10th Film By Terrence Malick
For much of Malick’s career, he has been viewed as a very sporadic filmmaker, making a handful of films from 1973 to 2005. Then, the 2010s arrived and he began making a flurry of films with The Tree of Life, To The Wonder, Knight of Cups, Song to Song, and A Voyage of Time. That still averages out to only about two films a decade, which is perhaps why it still manages to send a surge through the film world when another Malick film is announced and released. Malick has at least one more film up his sleeve with The Last Planet, which started filming over this past summer, but there’s no official release date yet.
It Has Much More Structured Script
If you’ve ever watched any Terrence Malick film, you’ll know that this is a markedly different approach from his past films. While the length of his films has varied over time, Malick has often preferred to tell his stories through images and ideas, rather than straightforward dialogue. This has made him more of an acquired taste for arthouse moviegoers than your standard film attendee. With A Hidden Life, however, Malick decided to take a more structured approach to the script. In an interview, Malick stated, “Lately – I keep insisting, only very lately – have I been working without a script and I’ve lately repented the idea… [We shot A Hidden Life] and we’re now cutting, went back to a script that was very well ordered.” Hopefully, this means moviegoers will feel less alienated than previous Malick outings.
It Is Malick’s Longest Theatrical Release
The director’s cuts of Malick’s films have always exceeded the runtime of their theatrical cuts, varying from 20 minutes to almost an entire hour. A Hidden Life runs at 174 minutes, just shy of three hours and clocking in only four minutes longer than The Thin Red Line.
While movies running over two hours have often spooked Hollywood executives, more recent releases like Avengers: Endgame have proven that audiences indeed will show up to watch long movies. (Granted, A Hidden Life more than likely won’t make $2 billion at the box office.)
It Was In Post-Production For Two Years
While many films don’t make it past pre-production, post-production can be the most time-consuming process in filmmaking. But, even for high budget, VFX-heavy films, post-production doesn’t tend to go more than a year. However, A Hidden Life, despite having a pre-production process of ten weeks and just another eight weeks for shooting, took over two years to finish. This is apparently due to Malick’s editing process, revisiting the footage over and over to create his desired story, according to producer Grant Hill. Sadly, two of the actors, Michael Nyqvuist and Bruno Ganz passed away since the film’s shooting.
It’s About A Man Who Refused To Fight For The Nazis
A decade ago, Quentin Tarantino’s Nazi-hunting escapade Inglorious Basterds was released. While it certainly was an event unto itself, not a great deal was discussed about its timeliness. Today, with the themes of white supremacy on the rise and a resurgence of Nazism, films placed in World War II (WWII) have gained more resonance. A Hidden Life follows the events in the life of Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian conscientious objector who “refuses on moral or religious grounds to serve in the armed forces” during WWII. Spoiler alert: Jägerstätter was ultimately arrested and executed for this refusal at the age of 36.
It’s Not August Diehl’s First Nazi-Related Film
Speaking of Inglorious Basterds, those of you with an eye for actors’ faces may recognize August Diehl from that very film. In Inglorious Basterds, however, Diehl portrayed a Nazi by the name of Dieter Hellstrom, a major Nazi officer who catches on to the Basterds’ plan.
Despite trying to get the upper hand with the Basterds, his banter with an undercover officer ultimately leads to him being killed and starting a bloodbath in an underground bar. We’re glad you came around and abandoned your Nazi ways, Mr. Diehl. A Nazi-resister is a much better look on you.
It Is Scored By James Newton Howard
With films containing breathtaking visuals like The Tree of Life and beautiful landscapes as seen in The New World, one might assume that of course, James Newton Howard has scored a Malick film before. Big whoop. However, this is the very first time that Howard has lent his talents to a Malick film. Howard has scored dozens of high profile films over the last several decades such as The Sixth Sense, Salt, and The Hunger Games to name just a few. That said, Howard and Malick are a match made in heaven, and even if you can’t make it to a theater to see A Hidden Life, you can check out the soundtrack online now.
It’s Likely A Best Picture Contender
While A Hidden Life may not have A-list actors in front of the camera, it’s clear that it has more than plenty of talent behind the camera. Several of Malick’s previous films, perhaps most notably The Tree of Life, have received Oscar nominations in various categories. With Malick coming out of Cannes with a Palme d’Or nomination and receiving a great deal of critical acclaim here in the States (currently a fresh 80% rating on Rotten Tomatoes), it’s a strong contender for Best Picture if nothing else. With its official release being last Friday, December 13, it’s in the very heart of awards season.
It May or May Not Get A Wider Release In Early 2020
This past weekend took a toll on A Hidden Life. Not only did it only get released in just 5 theaters, but it went up against Adam Sandler’s shot at Oscar gold, Uncut Gems, as well as the Fox News scandal Bombshell, both projects with greater notoriety.
It will be expanding to more theaters this week into 50 more cities, so hopefully, that will give it the traction it needs to get a truly wide release come January. We’re not saying you need to skip seeing The Rise of Skywalker, but maybe head out and see it during some other point of the holiday breaks? The Rise of Skywalker will be in theaters much longer than A Hidden Life.
It Was Shown At The Vatican With Malick
Malick is also notorious for not being the most present director in Hollywood, rarely coming out of hiding and mostly letting his films speak for themselves. But, if you’re going to make an appearance, go home or go to the Vatican. Of the hundreds of films that are released a year, not that many get a special screening with the director in the Vatican. Why is A Hidden Life getting special treatment? Well, it probably has a lot to do with the fact that Pope Benedict XVI declared Jägerstätter a martyr and beatified him in October 2007. With its inherent religious background, this may eventually give the film a little bump as word-of-mouth gets around.
