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2019 Cannes Film Festival

Terrence Malick’s A Hidden Life puzzles


Bangladeshpost
Published : 22 May 2019 03:57 PM | Updated : 05 Sep 2020 07:22 AM

American helmer Terrence Malick makes movies that come close to a three-hour run time but his creations like The Thin Red Line and A Tree of Life can be abstract, confounding and confusing. But as much as Malick may be a viewer’s nightmare, he can, at the same time, be a jury’s delight. In 2011, he won the Palm dÓr for A Tree of Life. Nobody can deny that he is enormously talented, but he is also frighteningly mystifying.

However, his latest title, A Hidden Life, which played as part of the Cannes 2019 Competition, has a less abstract narrative, though it leaves behind many unanswered questions. Based on a true story, set during World War II, A Hidden Life talks about an Austrian man, married with children. But the man’s often puzzling conscience takes him to the Nazi guillotine.

Running three hours, the film is gorgeous to look at, and director of photography (DOP) Jorg Widmer captures the Austrian landscape in its lush splendour. The undulating lands, the imposing mountains and the lively streams add beauty to a story whose climax is all but predictable. But, yes, I am sure there must have been some in the audience who would have wished for a happier end.    

—Hindustan Times