Back in January 2017, we ran an item expressing our excitement at the news that Terrence Malick’s World War Two epic, then known as Radegund, was at long last coming together. There have not been too many developments since then, but now we finally have word on a potential première date.
According to a report in Indiewire, Radegund is expected to open under the new title of A Hidden Life in a competition slot at the Cannes Film Festival, the main line-up for which is set to be announced two weeks from now.
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A tweet from French cinema industry insider Cédric Succivalli alleges that Malick has got his spot all sewn up, along with Jim Jarmusch‘s zombie comedy The Dead Don’t Die and Pedro Almodóvar‘s autobiographical character study Pain and Glory.
Succivalli also throws out a handful of odds-on selections that have yet to be confirmed: Céline Sciamma‘s lesbian romance Portrait of a Lady on Fire; a new feature from actor-turned-director Mati Diop; the latest effort from Russian up-and-comer Kantemir Balagov; the Dardenne brothers’ terrorism drama Ahmed; Ken Loach’s newest slice of social realism Sorry We Missed You; and Romanian master Corneliu Porumboiu‘s thriller The Passenger.
After two years on the shelf, perhaps a refresher on Malick’s film is in order: set in 1940s Austria, A Hidden Life tells the story of conscientious objector Franz Jägerstätter, who refused to take part in the Nazi war effort, inspiring many but ultimately facing severe punishment for his disobedience.
August Diehl plays the famed pacifist, while Matthias Schoenaerts and Michael Nyqvist support as the military men infuriated by his lack of loyalty to the Third Reich. It all sounds great to us – it’s a new Terrence Malick film! – but as ever with this director, you can never be sure quite what to expect.
A Hidden Life has yet to set a release date in the US or UK. The Cannes Official Selection announcement has been set for 18 April.
