Great Freedom

Cert 18, 117 minutes, in cinemas 11 March

Starring: Franz Rogowski, Georg Friedrich, Anton von Lucke

Director: Sebastian Meise

THE PLOT: In post-ww2 Germany, Hans (Rogowski) shuffles in and out of prison, convicted for homosexual acts. While incarcerated, he develops a relationship with long-term prisoner Viktor (Friedrich). WHAT’S RIGHT WITH IT? Anchored by a soulful performance from Franz Rogowski, whose face naturally radiates beguiling mystery,

Great Freedom offers a tender love story while also revealing shocking facts about our not-so-distant past: German gay men liberated from Nazi concentration camps were then imprisoned for their “crimes”. WHAT’S WRONG WITH IT? The timeline – flipping between 1968, 1945 and 1957 – can be a tad confusing. VERDICT: Austria’s entry to this year’s international feature film Oscar is a compassionate drama about desire, empathy and the human cost of state coercion. ★★★★