From Hilde, with Love

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From Hilde, with Love
From Hilde, With Love film poster.jpg
Teaser poster
German In Liebe, Eure Hilde
Directed by Andreas Dresen
Written byLaila Stieler
Produced by
Starring Liv Lisa Fries
Cinematography Judith Kaufmann
Edited byJörg Hauschild
Music byJens Quandt
Production
companies
  • Pandora Film Produktion GmbH
  • Leuchtstoff
  • Arte
Distributed byPandora Film Verleih [de]
Release dates
  • 17 February 2024 (2024-02-17)(Berlinale)
  • 17 October 2024 (2024-10-17)(Germany)
Running time
124 minutes
CountryGermany
LanguageGerman

From Hilde, with Love (German : In Liebe, Eure Hilde) is a 2024 German biographical film about Hilde Coppi, who along with her husband Hans Coppi belonged to Red Orchestra, a German resistance group to Nazism. Directed by Andreas Dresen, the film stars Liv Lisa Fries in titular role of Hilde Coppi and Johannes Hegemann as Hans Coppi. [1] [2]

Contents

The film was selected in the Competition at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival to be held from 15 to 25 February 2024, where it competed for the Golden Bear with its first screening on 17 February at Berlinale Palast. [3]

Synopsis

The film is a drama of short life, about love and death based on true events of World War II. In early 1942 in Berlin, Hilde Coppi, a young medical assistant, became part of a rebel group that was later known as the "Red Orchestra". There she met and fell in love with Hans Coppi, who later became her husband. They enjoyed a wonderful summer together, despite the danger of their activities and the risk of being caught. Eventually captured by the Gestapo, Hilde was imprisoned while pregnant. She gave birth to a son in Barnimstrasse women's prison, and soon after, she was condemned to death. In her final months, being a mother gave her the strength to face her destiny.

Cast

Liv Lisa Fries in 2018 Grimmepreis 2018 020 (cropped) - Liv Lisa Fries.jpg
Liv Lisa Fries in 2018

Production

Hilde Coppi in 1940 CIC RO Hilde Coppi detail.jpg
Hilde Coppi in 1940

In May 2022, Liv Lisa Fries was cast as the lead to play titular role of Hilde Coppi. Laila Stieler wrote the script for the producers Pandora Film Produktion's Claudia Steffen and Christoph Friedel with Cooky Ziesche's Leuchtstoff (Initiative von RBB und Medienboard Berlin) [de], Regina Ziegler's Ziegler Film GmbH & Co. KG, and Dresen and Andreas Leusink's Iskremas Filmproduktion GmbH [de]. [4]

Principal photography began on 22 August 2022 on locations in Berlin, Potsdam, Groß Köris, Ketzin-Schmergow, and Krahnepuhl. [1] Filming ended on 6 October 2022 with filming locations in the regions of Berlin and Brandenburg. [5]

Release

From Hilde, with Love had its world premiere on 17 February 2024, as part of the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, in Competition. [6] [7] [8]

Beta Cinema GmbH has international rights to the film. [9] In March, Picturehouse took the distribution rights of the film. [10]

It will be released theatrically on 17 October in Germany. [5]

Reception

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes website, the film has an approval rating of 83% based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 4/10. [11]

Leslie Felperin reviewing the film for The Hollywood Reporter termed it as "Top-drawer humanist cinema," and opined, "From Hilde feels tidy and complete, speaking like its heroine with a soft still voice about the importance of love, and the deep need to do something right, no matter how small, to defy corrupt, monstrous regimes." [12]

Catherine Bray writing in Variety praised Liv Lisa Fries, for her "subtle but layered performance." Bray mentioned Judith Kaufmann writing, "his cinematography, leaning into the sylvan charms of the Red Orchestra’s hangout, underscoring the brutality of the prison environment to which the film constantly returns." Bray praised Jörg Hauschild for doing "a good job balancing the edit between these two kinds of scene, with the prison narrative proceeding in a linear fashion to its grim conclusion, while the vignettes from prior to Hilde’s arrest jump forwards and backwards in time." Concluding her review she opined, "From Hilde, with Love might be set almost eighty years ago, but the themes explored seem destined to remain eternally urgent and relevant." [13]

Lee Marshall reviewing for ScreenDaily at Berlinale wrote, "The story of the German resistance to the Nazi regime has been told before in books, documentaries and fictional features, but rarely so freshly and movingly as in this account..." Praising performance Marshall wrote, "Liv Lisa Fries gives a compelling performance as a woman who at first, the film suggests, was something of an accidental revolutionary, brought into the anti-Nazi resistance through her love for the man who in 1941 would become her husband." Concluding Marshall said, "... in its final act, the film builds to a dramatic, moving crescendo, it does so not by hammering away at the injustice of Hilde’s fate – that’s a given – but by celebrating the small joys of parenthood, the touch of a lover’s skin and the adrenalin of a common cause." [14]

Nicholas Bell in Ion Cinema rated the film with two stars and said, "In our attempts to never forget the atrocities of the Holocaust, should we not make more of a collective effort to steer clear of making forgettable films?" [15]

Accolades

The film was selected in Competition at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, thus it was nominated to compete for Golden Bear award.

AwardDateCategoryRecipientResultRef.
Berlin International Film Festival 25 February 2024 Golden Bear Andreas Dresen Nominated [16] [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Coppi</span> German resistance member (1916–1942)

Hans-Wedigo Robert Coppi was a German resistance fighter against the Nazis. He was a member of a Berlin-based anti-fascist resistance group that was later called the Red Orchestra by the Gestapo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hilde Coppi</span> German communist and resistance fighter

Betti Gertrud Käthe Hilda Coppi, known as Hilde Coppi, was a German communist and resistance fighter against the Nazi regime. She was a member of the anti-fascist resistance group that was later called the Red Orchestra by the Abwehr, during the Nazi period.

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References

  1. 1 2 "In Liebe, Eure Hilde: Deutschland 2022-2024 Spielfilm" [From Hilde, With Love: Germany 2022-2024 feature film]. filmportal.de (in German). Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  2. "Why 'From Hilde, With Love' Director Made Nazi-Era Berlin Seem Almost 'Normal': 'I Wanted to Bring It Closer to Our Reality'". Variety.
  3. Abbatescianni, Davide (22 January 2024). "The Berlinale unveils its Competition and Encounters titles". Cineuropa . Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  4. Macnab, Geoffrey (21 May 2022). "'Babylon Berlin' star Liv Lisa Fries to lead 'From Hilde With Love' for Beta Cinema (exclusive)". ScreenDaily . Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  5. 1 2 "From Hilde, With Love, Feature Film: 2022-2023 – Biopic, Drama, Period, Third Reich / National Socialism, Germany". Crew United. 14 December 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  6. Ntim, Zac (22 January 2024). "Berlin Reveals 2024 Competition Lineup: Rooney Mara, Mati Diop, Isabelle Huppert, Abderrahmane Sissako Movies Among Selection". Deadline . Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  7. Scott Roxborough (22 January 2024). "Rooney Mara, Isabelle Huppert, Gael Garcia Bernal Films Set for 2024 Berlinale". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  8. "From Hilde, With Love". Berlinale. 6 February 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  9. "From Hilde, With Love". Beta Cinema. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  10. Tabbara, Mona (4 March 2023). "Picturehouse swoops for Berlin competition title 'From Hilde, With Love' (exclusive)". ScreenDaily . Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  11. "From Hilde, with Love (2024, Drama/History)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  12. Leslie Felperin (17 February 2024). "'From Hilde, With Love' Review: Stirring German Drama Spotlights a Heroine of the Anti-Nazi Resistance". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  13. Catherine Bray (17 February 2024). "'From Hilde, With Love' Review: Andreas Dresen Returns With an Affecting Romance Set in 1942 Germany". Variety . Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  14. Marshall, Lee (17 February 2024). "'From Hilde, With Love': Review". ScreenDaily . Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  15. Nicholas Bell (18 February 2024). "Germany, Pale Mother: Dresen Locates the Good Germans of WWII". Ion Cinema. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  16. Rosser, Michael (22 January 2024). "Berlin film festival reveals 2024 competition line-up". ScreenDaily . Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  17. Vivarelli, Nick; Shafer, Ellise (22 January 2024). "Berlin Film Festival Unveils Full Lineup: 'La Cocina' Starring Rooney Mara, 'Another End' With Gael García Bernal Among Competition Titles". Variety . Retrieved 27 January 2024.