Write or Wrong

The perpetual dilemma of whether to be right or wrong, whether to take a stand or not, to be ethical or not and ultimately stick to one's consciousness even when faced with death is something we don't think over every day. Having never been pushed so far we sometimes don't acknowledge or understand simple choices people undertake for their lives. 

Terrence Mallick's film, 'A Hidden Life' gives us a glimpse of what it's like to be when put into a position where you have to participate in the stark evil that prevails or lose your face and life. Most of us having never lived that way or pushed into ideals will face difficulty facing the questions presented in the movie.

We are like the church mural painter in the film who observes how he only paints the comfortable Christ people want to see as he himself hasn't had any experience of the suffering because of the stance that Christ took, meaning to say, he lacked the courage to even picture Christ's suffering yet it unfolded and was very much real during a point in time. To think about suffering is a daunting task in itself.

Exploring the social conditioning of mob mentality, the film also covers a time frame where once amiable people turn hostile and despicable because of an ethical stance one takes. There is a gut wrenching unwavering resolve in the central characters as the impacts of the world war unfolds. 

The cinematography presents a dream like perspective and takes us around the pleasantly sylvan village of Radegund and hovers around close to characters giving a kind of nearness to every little thing they experience from sheer joy to extreme anguish. Some bits warm your heart and others tear it. The peacefulness and the wholesomeness of the natural environment is undisturbed yet the turmoil burning inside is visible. 

Ever want to get entrenched in something simple yet earth shattering in presenting ethical dilemma 'A Hidden Life' is your pick.