Hagiography, accounts and legends of the lives of saints, has been a vital undertaking throughout the history of Christianity. Though it is not commonly practiced in the modern era, I argue in this video essay/analysis that A Hidden Life (2019) directed by Terrance Malick is surprisingly consistent with the spirit of Christian hagiography in how Malick goes about telling this story.

The film recounts the final years of Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian conscientious objector during World War II who was martyred for refusing to swear loyalty to Hitler. Like so many saints, his life may be “hidden” by worldly standards, but he presents an admirable and convincing example for anyone striving to live with authentic, active faith. Jägerstätter was even officially beatified by the Catholic Church in 2007.

A Hidden Life, like all of Malick’s films, boasts an undeniable poetical and mythological quality. But I underline in my analysis a few particular features that are strikingly resonant with hagiography. The first is its portrayal of “the individual vs. the collective -- the way it celebrates, then inverts, veritably every communal relationship in Franz’s life. The second is the incredible number of parallels between Franz and the story of Christ that Malick highlights with intention.

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Introduction: Why Tell this Story?
01:13 A Hidden Life as Hagiography
03:37 The Individual vs. The Collective
08:00 An Incarnate Life
12:39 Conclusion: A Successful Saint

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*Sources
- The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus (https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/010...)
- Hippolyte Delehaye, The Legends of the Saints: An Introduction to Hagiography (https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis...)
- C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics (  / 111563.god_in_the_dock  )
- St. Justin Popovich, Orthodox Faith and Life in Christ (  / orthodox-faith-and-life-in-christ  )
- Carl Jung, Aion: Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self (  / 729924  )
- Carl Jung, The Symbolic Life: Miscellaneous Writings (  / 341602.the_symbolic_life  )

*Music (Creative Commons Attribution)
- “Heimat” by Lebensessenz (   • Lebensessenz - Heimat  )
- “Pachabelly” by Huma Huma (   • Huma Huma  - Pachabelly  (Free Audio ...  )

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