From Hilde, With Love

Dir: Andreas Dresen

Cast: Liv Lisa Fries

From Hilde, With Love is a portrait of Hilde and Hans, two young members of Nazi-resistance group the Red Orchestra, whose romance plays out against the backdrop of a country torn by conflict. The film quietly immerses us in the final months of resistance fighter Hilde Coppi's life, finding strength in understatement and human detail. Set against the backdrop of Nazi-era Berlin, the film explores themes of defiance, love, and sacrifice through a restrained yet emotionally resonant lens. The film's power lies in restraint, showing quiet defiance as intimate, ordinary, and ultimately doomed. The film focuses on the fragile interior life of its protagonists with striking candour, exposing vulnerability, memory, and the way in which trauma metabolizes through the body. For Hilde, desire becomes indistinguishable from survival; the erotic here is political. The tragedy of Hilde feels more impactful, creating a far stronger emotional connection between the viewer and her than expected.