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‘Great Freedom’ Provides a Raw, Uncompromising Look at the Persecution of Gay Men in East Germany


Great freedom takes its name from the name of a nightclub that Hans Hoffmann (TransitThe actor’s Franz Rogowski) attended in 1969 at the conclusion of Sebastian Meise’s horror drama (now in theaters) —a setting about uninhibited homosexuality, currently anti-registration gay men Section 175 of Germany has been relaxed. However, true freedom is a complex and complex thing in the director’s long-awaited follow-up to 2011 Still life, especially for Hans, who was repeatedly detained for decades under the aforementioned law for wanting to have sex with other men. A portrait of liberation that flourishes in unexpected places, it is filled with silent anguish, longing and defiance, led by Rogowski’s performance that conveys astonishing depth in his moments. Minimalist gestures.

Hans is introduced in an opening sequence consisting of 16mm clips shot from behind a mirror in the bathroom of a cottage; In each clip, he engages in a sexual act with a stranger, thus clarifying his acts. This surreptitiously taped document was evidence in a 1968 trial against him, which ended with a swift sentence and a 24-month sentence. In East Germany, Section 175 banned such behavior and Hans was sent to prison, where he went through the admissions process as a seasoned professional. Just as the authorities’ cameras stared at him while he pleased his ladies, so did the guards watch as Hans stripped and undressed to examine, emphasizes how society systematically stares at him (often in the nude, like when he’s later put in solitary confinement), and damns him for what it sees.

Hans operates a sewing machine in the laundry room, and there he notices Leo (Anton von Lucke), one of the men with whom he has previously shared some intimate encounters in the bathroom. at the little house. Although Hans may be the subject of everyone else’s condemnation, he is a man of deep and confident eyes who sends coded messages through his petite appearance, sly and intentional expressions, such as a smile that sometimes creeps, almost imperceptibly, into the corner of his mouth. Rogowski, in turn, is amazing because he’s so charismatic yet so communicative, and despite Hans’ abuse and demonization — even from fellow gay protestors — he carries within him. confidence cannot be hidden. He is a man who knows who he is, what he wants and how he can get it, even in a place where concrete walls and humorless guardians are determined to keep he was alone and shunned any ray of fun.

Although Hans has his eye on Leo – a shy teacher who is spending his first time behind bars, and the last to find in Hans a trusted protector and partner – his long-term relationship he’s with Viktor Kohl (Georg Friedrich), who in 1968 was a drug addict on the verge of a new amnesty hearing. The connection between Hans and Viktor is the story of Great freedom, quickly travel back in time to 1945 to see Hans enter the same prison for the first time as a younger man without a mustache. A recent resident of a Nazi concentration camp, Hans traded one detention center for another, and he was immediately put in a cell with Viktor, who was disgusted with sharing space with a gay man. However, upon hearing about Hans’s World War II ordeal, he suggests tattooing something with a permanent identification number on Hans’ arm, thereby starting a relationship that will grow in the coming years. next year.

Between Viktor’s tattoo needle piercing Hans’ skin, Hans’ straw poking a hole in the Bible to deliver a secret message to his lover, the cigarette standing on Hans’ lips, the stirring paintbrush and a man men are madly blowing saxophones, real images and erotic images abound in Great freedom, though with an endemic flair to the proceedings. Meise often relies heavily on silence and lamentation trumpets to add weight and sadness to her film, as well as claustrophobic darkness that sometimes seems intent on swallowing Hans whole. In such a bleak environment, Hans’ matches provide the only glimmer of light — a brief visual metaphor for his inner efforts to keep his true self. exist in a world seeking to destroy it.

In a 1957 segment, Hans goes to prison with her boyfriend Oskar (Thomas Prenn), who makes it clear how much he admires Hans for his bravery, a quality Oskar says he lacks. . Great freedom is a movie about living and loving despite the high costs, and the pain, misery, and tragedy that doing so can entail. Hans is caught between being himself and someone who can safely survive in a country that despises him, and the path he plots is a jagged one, marked by the pitfalls he finds himself in. We do not anticipate or do not care. His relationship with Viktor was similarly fractured, Viktor falling into substance abuse and dependence at the same time bringing him closer to Hans. Their union is forged through blunt acts of need, power, and lust, and Meise shoots them — and the rest of the challengers — with a clarity befitting rough and coldness enveloped his story.

In such a bleak environment, Hans’ matches provide the only glimmer of light — a succinct visual metaphor of his inner efforts to keep his true self alive. in a world seeking to destroy it.

In a late scene, Hans and Viktor watch Neil Armstrong takes important first steps on the moon, Viktor commented: “I think it would be more interesting.” However, happiness comes in discreet forms in Meise’s films, such as Hans’ attempt to help Viktor shake off his drug habit by kneeling next to him as he vomits violently one day. toilet, and then hug him in a warm embrace. Great freedom suggests that there is freedom in giving and receiving selfless love, and so the scene where Viktor crawls into bed to eat a spoon with Hans (on the night after their relationship ended) sounds loudest, all up to a painful tenderness far deeper than the flesh formerly enjoyed by either of them.

Meise’s habit of following characters in doorways and windows, as well as across other frames, speaks to Hans and Viktor’s tight confinement. In the finale, however, Hans discovers that emancipation isn’t as clear-cut as one might think, and that perhaps the place where people feel most free has little to do with walls, bars, or rules. . Great freedom asks such questions but wisely refuses to give frivolous answers, choosing instead to accept – as Hans did – the messy ambiguity of modern life.



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