"Große Freiheit" or "Great Freedom" is a co-production between Austria and Germany from 2021 and this film is almost exclusively in the German language. I think you can say that this is more of an Austrian than a German film, even if the (bigger) lead actor is German. The director and writer is Sebastian Meise and he is from Austria and turned 45 when this came out. Not the most prolific filmmaker, so maybe this explains why he got help from Thomas Reider with the screenplay. Reider (not Tvix) has worked on a bigger amount of projects in the past. For Meise, this was only his third full feature project apparently after some short film works and it is definitely his by far most famous work. I am not entirely sure, but I think this was Austria's Oscar submission too, but did not make the cut. Where it had huge success was the renowned film festival in Cannes. Palme d'Or. You can check for yourself for the awards it won and for which it was nominated. The film runs for almost two hours and it is a prison drama pretty much from beginning to end. At the very end, the action takes place outside of jail, but it is just a temporary state as we know what is going to happen next when the closing credits roll in. Right back to jail that is. But I am too deep into the story already. Let's look at some of the basics first: Franz Rogowski plays the central character here and he is a character that has turned into one of Germany's most known and most successful non-mainstream actors in recent years. I like him. The other major player in here is Georg Friedrich, an Austrian actor and you can make a case for both possibilities that he either plays the by far biggest supporting character or a co-lead even. It is not too important how you see it. What matters is that he is as good as he always is. He shines particularly towards the end when there is more focus on the man's drug addiction. I just like him as an actor, no matter what he is in and he is really versatile and this is just another good film in his body of work.
He still had quite a challenge with his character because I personally felt that the way he was written was among the film's biggest weaknesses. Especially towards the end. We find out that he is at least bisexual, but it made almost no sense to me. I know they were going with the idea that he himself probably did not know that he maybe likes men too or that he is just so in-your-face and disgusted at the start because he wants to suppress what is inside him, but to me since minute one the character felt 100% heterosexual and so the scene in which he receives oral pleasure from the protagonist was as difficult to believe as the scene in which they land in bed together. Telling us immediately afterwards that he is not one of them helped though. This is almost at the very end already. I also felt that with the serious disgust he had for Rogowski's character, he warmed up to him too quickly. Of course, the tattoo scene was pretty memorable and how he finishes the tattoo on two different occasions. Yep, this film is set during three different eras and there are several decades between those I think even. Two decades or so. One is right after the end of World War II, the other is in the 50s (I think) and the now if you want to call it that are the 1960s. We even see the moon landing and the inmates are allowed to watch it on television and it was interesting afterwards to see how they perceived it as nothing truly special apparently, but still at least one of them is staring in awe up there to the moon. The way we were staring at the screen. I sometimes struggle with lack of chronology in films, but here it worked well somehow and was easy to grasp what moment in time we are currently in. It was all about the beards basically and also how rough the characters looked. The beards were used to make them look older and it worked nicely. It also helped that the last third of the film then plays in the now and from there on it is all chronological and if you were somehow confused before that, then you wouldn't be anymore towards the end.
This is also when we found out the protagonist's initial lover had died and the current one, a teacher, was released from prison and the main character gave up on him. Maybe the affection was also not as strong as it was with the other one earlier. And definitely not as strong as it was with Friedrich's character in the end with this act of affection that brings the "hero" back to the only place where he can be with the man that matters to him the most. I was still curious earlier what would happen if the love interest did not get up to be counted. We experience it together with the character. Many fine moments in this film for sure. Also the paper (Spiegel?) that showed us just like it showed the protagonist that the discrimination against gay people was over. Or at least let's say the law-induced discrimination. Now those were really the times in which homosexuals had to suffer a lot and everybody who starts complaining about sexuality-oriented discrimination on the smallest occasion in the 21st century should watch this film and see how times back then were incredibly harsh. Also, there is a pretty brief concentration camp reference in here. It was rushed-in (Harold-and-Maude style), but it felt right the way it was included and handled and everybody in the audience was just as shocked as Friedrich's character how they moved people from concentration camps to "official" penetentiaries if you want to call them that. The inclusions of American officers was a bit bizarre, but also made sense I guess. One thing that slightly confused me was why the protagonist's sentence did not get more severe when they tell everybody it was him who initiated sexual contact against the teacher's will. And I was also wondering why the two men out there at night inside the fence did not get in trouble. But I guess the inmates simply did not like the guards, so they kept it a secret, but still I wonder why because I am sure many found it disgusting and wrong. Just look at the connection one character makes that a gay man is most likely automatically a pedophile too.
The name of the film is linked to the gay sex club you see at the very end. Wild times for sure after they are no longer breaking the law. Friedrich's earlier reaction to this abolishment was awesome too, maybe the finest moment in terms of acting from the entire movie. Unlike Rogowski's, character he was completely stunned. He did not understand at all how a law can simply be turned over. It's a law after all. Written in stone in his mind, which may also explain why he always thought he would be doing something wrong if he really pursued life as a bisexual man and not just a heterosexual man. Anyway, as for the club I just mentioned, it is how the main character tries to distract himself from the one he loves, but freedom and pleasure are only temporary if at all. But it sure is one excessive freedom with all we see going on there as we see Rogowski's character walk through the rooms. Pay attention to how it all turns dark and the parallel to how it all turned dark when he was locked in earlier in the isolation room. He also takes a full load to the face there. Just water. Okay, let's not go there any further. Sorry, I just had to. What else can you say. Oh yes, the moments of harsh truth that Friedrich's character will probably never get out and die in there were also memorable. Be it the protagonist's quote about him never seeing another woman or the hearing linked to his release that is never going to happen probably. No Shawshank here. Also no hope for them to break out of jail, no matter how badly they want to. Of course, it was also handled in a way that Friedrich's character is a killer (not 100% certain if he killed one or two), but the shooting was basically an emotional act, a crime of passion, so he would probably not have to stay in jail for the rest of his life if he did the same thing in the now and not almost 80 years ago or so. We do not know how long he was already in jail at the very start. We only see how Rogowski's character comes to jail and the film basically starts with the court hearing that is followed by his most recent, his final court sentence.
The shot on the poster here on imdb is also one of the most memorable scenes. It follows the moment in which Rogowski's character finds out that his partner had committed suicide and jumped from the roof. My respect to those who already saw this coming when we find out he works up there on a roof that belongs to the prison. But this also showed us how strong the connection was already between the two main characters. There is no comedy to this movie, but compare this to the early words of Friedrich's character that he will kill the other guy if he touches him. And then Friedrich was actually the one touching Rogowski's character first during the tattoo scene and the latter gets his cellmate's respect by taking the blame for the possession and hiding of the ink needle and also by trusting his new friend that he should just do whatever tattoo he wants. I guess this is all then. Overall, there were moments and inclusions where I was not completely sure if I could give a positive recommendation here, but in the end I think the film deserves it with its acting and also writing. It is not much worse than the much longer film that won the foreign language feature category at the Oscars this year, so I would not have been mad if GF had gotten a nomination too. Austria keeps delivering really with so many good films, even if Germany also had a decent submission this year, actually more than that, namely a really, really good film. As for this one here, it s a (mostly) realistic 1940s/1950s/1960s-set prison drama with some shocking moments and I recommend checking it out. The talent is there. Go for it. And appreciate that you did not live back then, especially as a gay (wo)man.
He still had quite a challenge with his character because I personally felt that the way he was written was among the film's biggest weaknesses. Especially towards the end. We find out that he is at least bisexual, but it made almost no sense to me. I know they were going with the idea that he himself probably did not know that he maybe likes men too or that he is just so in-your-face and disgusted at the start because he wants to suppress what is inside him, but to me since minute one the character felt 100% heterosexual and so the scene in which he receives oral pleasure from the protagonist was as difficult to believe as the scene in which they land in bed together. Telling us immediately afterwards that he is not one of them helped though. This is almost at the very end already. I also felt that with the serious disgust he had for Rogowski's character, he warmed up to him too quickly. Of course, the tattoo scene was pretty memorable and how he finishes the tattoo on two different occasions. Yep, this film is set during three different eras and there are several decades between those I think even. Two decades or so. One is right after the end of World War II, the other is in the 50s (I think) and the now if you want to call it that are the 1960s. We even see the moon landing and the inmates are allowed to watch it on television and it was interesting afterwards to see how they perceived it as nothing truly special apparently, but still at least one of them is staring in awe up there to the moon. The way we were staring at the screen. I sometimes struggle with lack of chronology in films, but here it worked well somehow and was easy to grasp what moment in time we are currently in. It was all about the beards basically and also how rough the characters looked. The beards were used to make them look older and it worked nicely. It also helped that the last third of the film then plays in the now and from there on it is all chronological and if you were somehow confused before that, then you wouldn't be anymore towards the end.
This is also when we found out the protagonist's initial lover had died and the current one, a teacher, was released from prison and the main character gave up on him. Maybe the affection was also not as strong as it was with the other one earlier. And definitely not as strong as it was with Friedrich's character in the end with this act of affection that brings the "hero" back to the only place where he can be with the man that matters to him the most. I was still curious earlier what would happen if the love interest did not get up to be counted. We experience it together with the character. Many fine moments in this film for sure. Also the paper (Spiegel?) that showed us just like it showed the protagonist that the discrimination against gay people was over. Or at least let's say the law-induced discrimination. Now those were really the times in which homosexuals had to suffer a lot and everybody who starts complaining about sexuality-oriented discrimination on the smallest occasion in the 21st century should watch this film and see how times back then were incredibly harsh. Also, there is a pretty brief concentration camp reference in here. It was rushed-in (Harold-and-Maude style), but it felt right the way it was included and handled and everybody in the audience was just as shocked as Friedrich's character how they moved people from concentration camps to "official" penetentiaries if you want to call them that. The inclusions of American officers was a bit bizarre, but also made sense I guess. One thing that slightly confused me was why the protagonist's sentence did not get more severe when they tell everybody it was him who initiated sexual contact against the teacher's will. And I was also wondering why the two men out there at night inside the fence did not get in trouble. But I guess the inmates simply did not like the guards, so they kept it a secret, but still I wonder why because I am sure many found it disgusting and wrong. Just look at the connection one character makes that a gay man is most likely automatically a pedophile too.
The name of the film is linked to the gay sex club you see at the very end. Wild times for sure after they are no longer breaking the law. Friedrich's earlier reaction to this abolishment was awesome too, maybe the finest moment in terms of acting from the entire movie. Unlike Rogowski's, character he was completely stunned. He did not understand at all how a law can simply be turned over. It's a law after all. Written in stone in his mind, which may also explain why he always thought he would be doing something wrong if he really pursued life as a bisexual man and not just a heterosexual man. Anyway, as for the club I just mentioned, it is how the main character tries to distract himself from the one he loves, but freedom and pleasure are only temporary if at all. But it sure is one excessive freedom with all we see going on there as we see Rogowski's character walk through the rooms. Pay attention to how it all turns dark and the parallel to how it all turned dark when he was locked in earlier in the isolation room. He also takes a full load to the face there. Just water. Okay, let's not go there any further. Sorry, I just had to. What else can you say. Oh yes, the moments of harsh truth that Friedrich's character will probably never get out and die in there were also memorable. Be it the protagonist's quote about him never seeing another woman or the hearing linked to his release that is never going to happen probably. No Shawshank here. Also no hope for them to break out of jail, no matter how badly they want to. Of course, it was also handled in a way that Friedrich's character is a killer (not 100% certain if he killed one or two), but the shooting was basically an emotional act, a crime of passion, so he would probably not have to stay in jail for the rest of his life if he did the same thing in the now and not almost 80 years ago or so. We do not know how long he was already in jail at the very start. We only see how Rogowski's character comes to jail and the film basically starts with the court hearing that is followed by his most recent, his final court sentence.
The shot on the poster here on imdb is also one of the most memorable scenes. It follows the moment in which Rogowski's character finds out that his partner had committed suicide and jumped from the roof. My respect to those who already saw this coming when we find out he works up there on a roof that belongs to the prison. But this also showed us how strong the connection was already between the two main characters. There is no comedy to this movie, but compare this to the early words of Friedrich's character that he will kill the other guy if he touches him. And then Friedrich was actually the one touching Rogowski's character first during the tattoo scene and the latter gets his cellmate's respect by taking the blame for the possession and hiding of the ink needle and also by trusting his new friend that he should just do whatever tattoo he wants. I guess this is all then. Overall, there were moments and inclusions where I was not completely sure if I could give a positive recommendation here, but in the end I think the film deserves it with its acting and also writing. It is not much worse than the much longer film that won the foreign language feature category at the Oscars this year, so I would not have been mad if GF had gotten a nomination too. Austria keeps delivering really with so many good films, even if Germany also had a decent submission this year, actually more than that, namely a really, really good film. As for this one here, it s a (mostly) realistic 1940s/1950s/1960s-set prison drama with some shocking moments and I recommend checking it out. The talent is there. Go for it. And appreciate that you did not live back then, especially as a gay (wo)man.