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.