Miss Flicks

From Hilde, With Love review: A powerful tale of resistance

I love films that shine a light on real, extraordinary people, so I’m thankful that From Hilde, With Love exists because I now know about the anti-Nazi resistance fighter Hilde Coppi.

Babylon Berlin actress Liv Lisa Fries plays Hilde, a German dental assistant who falls in love with Hans (Johannes Hegemann) and becomes involved with his rebel activities, such as listening to radio messages from Russia, communicating with the Russians via Morse Code and printing and distributing anti-war leaflets and posters.

The film begins when Hilde is arrested and interrogated by the Gestapo in 1942 while pregnant with their first child. It then flips back and forth between two timelines – her present stay in the prison with her son, Hans Coppi Jr., and flashbacks to her love story with Hans and their group’s anti-Nazi activities.

The present-day timeline runs chronologically, while the flashbacks are shown out of order, making it sometimes hard to keep track of how they fit together. They slowly reveal how Hilde and Hans met and if she really did everything the Gestapo has accused her of. There is a visual difference between the timelines, with the bright and sunny flashbacks contrasting with the stark and austere look of the prison.

Hilde was not your typical resistance fighter – she is shy, quiet and restrained but brave all the same. She knew the risks involved in fighting the Nazi regime but did so anyway. Fries’s performance is subtle, but she gets opportunities to shine with the birth scene and the final act. I also enjoyed the arc of prison guard Anneliese Kühn (Lisa Wagner), a harsh woman who softens towards Hilde despite being on opposite sides of the political divide.

From Hilde, With Love is a deeply powerful and moving film about love, resistance and motherhood. You might need tissues!

In cinemas from Friday 27th June

Read my interview with director Andreas Dresen here.