Great Freedom () is a 2021 drama film co-written and directed by . It was selected to compete in the Un Certain Regard section at the 74th Cannes Film Festival, which won the Jury Prize in the same section. It won the Golden Giraldillo at the Seville European Film Festival. It was selected as the Austrian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards, and on 22 December 2021, it was shortlisted for the award ceremony.
The film was released theatrically on 18 November 2021 in Germany by Piffl Medien and the following day in Austria by Filmladen Filmverleih.
Plot
In 1968, Hans Hoffmann is imprisoned for cottaging. While sewing in the prison's thread mill, he spots a former cellmate named Viktor Bix, who was sentenced to 20 years for a murder—and is soon up for parole. He later meets a young inmate named Leo, with whom he had been exchanging eye contact and is also imprisoned for cottaging. During yard time, Hans attempts to rescue Leo from bullying, culminating in the assault of another inmate. Hans ends up in solitary confinement (where Viktor sneaks him some cigarettes and matches) and reminisces about his life.
In 1945, Hans was a concentration camp inmate due to his sexual orientation. After the liberation of the camp by the Allied forces, he was transferred into the same prison he went into in 1968, because homosexuality remains illegal. He meets Viktor, who is aggressive towards Hans at first, but then he notices that Hans has a number tattoo on his arm, and offers to cover it up with another picture. Hans agrees.
In 1957, Hans is imprisoned again for secretly cohabiting with his boyfriend Oskar, who is put into the same prison. Oskar is burdened by his inability to live his true life and commits suicide. Viktor relays the news to Hans during yard time, and Hans bursts out in tears. Viktor hugs him in an attempt to help, and they both are thrown into solitary confinement.
When Hans enters the prison in 1968, he sees that Viktor has significantly deteriorated and started using intravenous drugs. Leo informs Hans that he told the police that Hans forced him to commit homosexual acts; Hans signs a confession to that, and Leo is let go. Hans offers Viktor to help him go cold turkey. Viktor bribes a guard, and Hans is transferred into Viktor's cell. Viktor greatly suffers from withdrawal and tries to secretly inject himself with drugs during the night, but Hans wakes up and notices that, then flushes the drugs down the toilet and hugs Viktor as he tries to break away. In the morning, they wake up in the same bed.
Next year, Hans notices an issue of Der Spiegel with a large story about the partial repeal of Paragraph 175 at the cover: homosexual acts are now decriminalised. Despondent Hans tells Viktor that he is getting released and will not be back.
After release, Hans immediately goes to the basement of a gay bar and sees many men openly having sex with each other. Hans exits the bar, picks a brick and smashes the window of a jewellery shop, takes several items and puts them into his pockets, then sits down at the kerb, waiting for the police to arrive.
Cast
Reception Critical reception On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 97% based on 60 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "With intelligence and sensitivity, Great Freedom draws on past injustices to present a beautifully crafted tribute to the persistence of the human spirit" On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 89 out of 100, based on 18 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
Awards and nominations Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Diagonale 13 June 2021 Diagonale Actor Award Georg Friedrich Diagonale Award for Best Camera Crystel Fournier VAM Award for Outstanding Production Achievement Sabine Moser and Oliver Neumann Diagonale Award for Best Editing Joana Scrinzi Cannes Film Festival17 July 2021 Un Certain Regard Jury PrizeSebastian Meise Queer Palm Sarajevo Film Festival 20 August 2021 Heart of Sarajevo - Best Film Great Freedom CICAE Award Heart of Sarajevo - Best Actor Georg Friedrich Festival du nouveau cinéma 18 October 2021 International Competition, Grand Prize Sebastian Meise "Le 50e Festival du nouveau cinéma dévoile son palmarès et se poursuit en ligne jusqu’au 31 octobre 2021". CTVM, October 18, 2021.Chicago International Film Festival 24 October 2021 Gold Q-Hugo Great Freedom Vienna International Film Festival 31 October 2021 Best Feature ExtraVALUE Film Award - Best Feature Film Seville European Film Festival 13 November 2021 Golden Giraldillo Award for Best Film ASECAN Award Sebastian Meise Best Actor Franz Rogowski Zagreb Film Festival 21 November 2021 Golden Pram - Best Feature Film Great Freedom Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 28 November 2021 DDA Spotlight Award European Film Awards11 December 2021 Best Actor Franz Rogowski Best Composer Nils Petter Molvaer and Peter Brötzmann Best Cinematographer Crystel Fournier European University Film Award Great Freedom Austrian Film Awards 30 June 2022 Best Feature Film Sabine Moser, Oliver Neumann, Benny Drechsel, Sebastian Meise Best Director Sebastian Meise Best Actor Georg Friedrich Franz Rogowski Best Supporting Actor Thomas Prenn Best Screenplay Thomas Reider and Sebastian Meise Best Cinematography Crystel Fournier Best Make-Up Heiko Schmidt, Roman Braunhofer and Kerstin Gaecklein Best Music Peter Brötzmann and Nils Petter Molvaer Best Editing Joana Scrinzi German Film Awards 24 June 2022 Best Film Benny Drechsel, Sabine Moser and Oliver Neumann Best Director Sebastian Meise Best Actor Franz Rogowski Best Screenplay Thomas Reider, Sebastian Meise Best Cinematography Crystel Fournier Best Editing Joana Scrinzi Best Costume Design Tanja Hausner, Andrea Hölzl Best Make-Up Heiko Schmidt, Roman Braunhofer and Kerstin Gaecklein Deutscher Schauspielpreis 9 September 2022 Best Actor in a Dramatic Leading Role Franz Rogowski Best Actor in a Dramatic Supporting Role Georg Friedrich European Film Awards 10 December 2022 Lux Award Great Freedom
See also Paragraph 175 Paragraph 175 (film) List of submissions to the 94th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film List of Austrian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
References
External links