End of Year MOVIE JOURNAL

[Chris Knipp]

A HIDDEN LIFE (Terrence Malick 2019). Malick departs from his usual themes for a true story of a (now) Christian martyr, Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian farmer who in 1943 was put to death for refusing to sign an oath of allegiance to Hitler. This theme involving self-examination and conscience gets the woozy Malick treatment, which doesn't work so well, after three hours, I found the drawn-out action maddening. Some like it though: Metascore 78%. Watched at Albany Twin Dec. 22, 2019.