Abstract
Utilizing Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard’s essay “Has a Man the Right to Let Himself Be Put to Death for the Truth?”, my paper showcases director Terrence Malick’s deeply conflicted interpretation of this dilemma in his latest film, A Hidden Life through his use of overpowering pastoral imagery. While Kierkegaard believed that no man has the right to put themselves to death merely for the sake of “the truth”, Malick breaks from Kierkegaard’s conclusion by informing World War II conscientious objector Franz Jägerstätter’s ultimate decision to sacrifice his life as one deeply indebted both to a spiritually infused romantic love and a tremendous humbling in the presence of the sublime pastoral. Combining Malick’s interpretation of Kierkegaard and the tenets of Edward Said’s concept of “late style”, I conclude that Malick presents the timeless pastoral as the canvas for a grand synthesis of political, romantic, and spiritual searching through the simultaneous foregrounding of both nature and man in imagery throughout the film. In A Hidden Life, Malick’s signature filmic images of natural beauty reach a sublime that is at once ennobling and terrifying; mirroring Jägerstätter’s own frightened transcendence from his corporeal form as he forgoes his earthly existence for the sake of a genuine, fundamental truth in the face of monstrous evil.
Presenters
William QuadeStudent, PhD Candidate, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Malick, Nature, Kierkegaard, Sublime, Philosophy, Pastoral, Imagery
