From Hilde with Love

After his previous film Rabiye Kurnaz vs George W Bush received Silver Bears for Best Screenplay and Best Actress at the 72^nd Berlinale, director Andreas Dresen is back in Competition with another political drama. In Liebe, Eure Hilde tackles a far better known chapter of Germany’s history, yet still manages to breathe fresh air into the well-trodden path of World War II period pieces.

In the summer of 1942, a group of friends enjoy clear water and warming sunbeams as they sit together at a lake. In the evenings, they listen to enemy stations on the radio, transcribe what they hear and try to find ways to bring this information to the German people. Among them is Hilde Coppi, pregnant with her first child, both madly in love with her husband Hans and life itself. Their dream of a peaceful family life is over before it can even begin when the young couple are arrested for their resistance activities.

Even as it marks one of the darkest chapters of human history and doesn’t shy away from depicting brutality as quite matter of fact, Dresen’s main objective is to portray the rays of light that pierce through the veil of hopelessness. Hilde is portrayed as an empathic woman, who would never dream of calling herself an activist, let alone a resistance fighter but can’t sit idly by in a raging war. At the other side of the medallion, there are guards, who firmly believe that the Coppi’s actions were treason, yet without hesitation they let Hans Senior meet his wife and newborn son in the prison hallway.

The plot operates on two different timelines and the distance between the depicted events grows as the film proceeds, keeping a Yin-Yang like balance between the best and worst acts of human nature. Script and acting are once again the gravitating forces of the feature. In particular, the delicate performance of Liv Lisa Fries is one to make waves, perhaps even outside the festival if the film is picked up internationally.

As a political proclamation, From Hilde with Love doesn’t dig deep enough into the motivations of the characters that evidently were strong enough for them to knowingly risk their lives. Still, the film succeeds as a biographical drama highlighting the day to day lives of members of the “Rote Kapelle” and making history more approachable to younger audiences.

Selina Sondermann

From Hilde with Love does not have a UK release date yet.

Read more reviews from our Berlin Film Festival 2024 coverage here.

For further information about the event visit the Berlin Film Festival website here.