Fox Searchlight has released a trailer for Terrence Malick’s new movie, A Hidden Life. The legendary Days of Heaven and Thin Red Line filmmaker has increased his output something fierce over the past decade (beginning with 2011’s Tree of Life), and shows no signs of slowing down. His latest offering, A Hidden Life, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to strong reviews back in May and was acquired by Fox Searchlight shortly after. It’s since been set for a December release date in a clear-attempt by the studio to bolster its awards season prospects.
Written and directed by Malick, A Hidden Life dramatizes the true story of Franz Jägerstätter (August Diehl), an Austrian farmer and devout Catholic who was imprisoned for being a conscientious objector after refusing to fight for Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich and the Nazis in WWII. With the summer movie season winding down and the fast-approaching film festivals in Toronto and Venice set to kick-off the fall, Fox is getting its marketing for Malick’s project up and going this week.
The trailer for A Hidden Life is now online, ahead of its premiere in theaters in the upcoming days. You can check it out in the space below, followed by a newly-unveiled clip from the film (ahead of its own showing at TIFF 2019).
Based on the trailer, A Hidden Life has the same visual hallmarks (namely, wide-angle shots that create the impression of an omniscient perspective) as Malick’s most recent work, and continues to explore the themes (love, belief, spirituality) that’ve long defined his filmography. However, early word of mouth suggests A Hidden Life is less esoteric and benefits from having more clearly defined through-lines than some of the storyteller’s more polarizing output in the last decade (a la To the Wonder, Knight of Cups). The movie also seems much more politically urgent and relevant than some of his previous offerings, with Jägerstätter’s story raising important questions about how far anyone is willing to go to stand up for their morals and what they know to be right in the face of an increasingly oppressive and brutal government.
For these reasons, it will be interesting to see if A Hidden Life takes off this awards season in ways that most of Malick’s post-Tree of Life films have not. The movie also gives Fox Searchlight another contender in this year’s Oscar race to join Taika Waititi’s own WWII project, Jojo Rabbit, in addition to Noah Hawley and Natalie Portman’s astronaut drama Lucy in the Sky (which was only recently dated for October). Either way, die-hard Malick fans - and even those who’ve passed on his recent efforts - will want to check this one out, by the sound of things.
Source: Fox Searchlight
