Crime, Drama, Romance

GREAT FREEDOM

2022
1 HR, 56 min
APR 8 → APR 21, 2022

Details

Released March 4, 2022, Austria, Germany

Drama, Romance, Crime

1 hour, 56 minutes

MUBI

German with English Subtitles

Starring

Franz Rogowski
Georg Friedrich
Anton von Lucke
Thomas Prenn
Ulrich Faßnacht

Director

Sebastian Meise

Film Information

The exquisite latest film from writer-director Sebastian Meise, Great Freedom paints a stirring portrait of gay resistance and resilience in post-war Germany. Sensual yet arresting, Austria’s official submission to the 2022 Academy Awards turns a humanist eye towards a heartrending past.

Unfolding across three decades, this drama traces the repeated imprisonment of one man under Paragraph 175 — a law criminalizing homosexual activity. After being “liberated” by Allied forces in 1945, Hans is transferred directly from a concentration camp to prison to finish out his sentence. There, he forms an unlikely connection with his cellmate Viktor, a convicted murderer. As Hans is jailed again and again, a relationship that begins with revulsion blossoms into something far more tender.

Anchored by a transformative star turn from Franz Rogowski (Transit), Great Freedom weaves together intimate moments across time to form a personal and political epic. In the process, this Cannes prizewinner triumphs as a searing depiction of love in the face of injustice.

Full Cast

Franz Rogowski

Georg Friedrich

Anton von Lucke

Thomas Prenn

Ulrich Faßnacht

Additional Credits

Sebastian Meise Director

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Reviews

“A film that both treasures the life span of a lit match and respects the patience it takes to endure a prison term, Great Freedom makes an exquisite case for the impossibility of caging the heart, even when love itself is criminalized.”

Robert Abele

Los Angeles Times

“Critic’s Pick! Unexpectedly tender…A story of salvation told one caress and sexual encounter at a time.”

Manohla Dargis

The New York Times