Great Freedom.takes place in the post war era, after the second world war till the late 60's, after the May of 1968. It begins with Hans, the main character which is being uniquely performed by Franz Rogowski, staying in a correctional institution during the year of 1968 without any kind of privacy (his love life is being recorded and that love life has been defined as a criminal offence). It is a fictional story including a documentary style, exploring the different years in the life of Hans. We see him in concentration camps and correctional institutions, not in a.yearly way but in a way that gives answers about his situation in 1968 while something else had happened in 1945. He falls in love, he changes his style, he finds small doses of freedom and ways to live.

Living under restricted orders and practically behind bars for years without having a normal free life but only a few moments of pleasure, has added to his watsowever optimistic character a side of desperation. Cannot even believe that the law has changed when he looks at a magazine defining his existance as legal and that would make him a free man.

Meise talks about Paragraph 175 by using two love stories in the life of Hans. Paragraph 175 was introduced in Germany during the 19th century and it was stricktly followed during the nazism era. According to that Paragraph, homosexual relationships between men were out of law and they were considered to have been criminal with mental issues. That wouldn't change till 1969.

The amazing photography of Crystel Fournier cannot be unobserved when it contains the blue of nouvelle vague.

If love sets you free then that wouldn't happen in this film. Hans is losing two stable relationships due to legal reasons.

The movie "Great Freedom" emphasizes how a simple paragraph of the German Criminal Code punished same-sex relationships for more than a century in Germany. Director and writer Sebastian Meise purposely place two incarcerated individuals in the same prison cell for a certain period of time: one for being a criminal and the other just for being homosexual. Two marginalized characters who accept their fates and the bitterness of their lives.

The sad and lonely life of homosexual Hans Hoffmann, from suffering in concentration camps to prison in the 20th century, hasn't changed anything: the tortures, prejudices, and tattoos marks were the same, whether under the Nazi regime or under the American allies regime post-war.

It's impossible not to think about so many real gays who went through the same or even worse situations.

Actor Franz Rogowski as the homosexual Hans Hoffmann and Georg Friedrich as Viktor are spectacular, their performances are breathtaking, and they emanate originality and precision throughout the movie.

This movie is a great tribute to everyone who hasn't been able to experience love simply because their partner is of the same sex. It's sad to read some reviews of the movie, I don't think the movie is perfect myself but watch it with Paragraph 175 in mind and the historical value this movie carries, we wouldn't speak freely about LGBTQ+ today.

This film is fictional but history teaches this film is more of a documentary.

You're not like them, incarceration is imposed, you have no right to act in ways you're predisposed, it's an outrage, a disease, we will use our expertise, into the cell, you'll go to hell, you've been exposed.

It's important to remember the inhuman things governments (often elected but not always) did to people who didn't conform to their misguided beliefs, doctrine and dogma. Here, the always impressive Franz Rogowski gives us Hans, a perpetually convicted gay man who spends most of his adult days behind bars, just for being himself. Ably supported by a host of fine performances, you're left wondering how many people over the ages have been persecuted in this way and how many are still living in fear today in some parts of the world.