For 123 years, Paragraph 175 of the German Criminal Code criminalized homosexuality. Those convicted were sentenced to prison terms of up to 10 years. The statute allowed the authorities to intercept and confiscate love letters and submit them to the court as evidence, as well as encroach on the privacy of these men and expose delicate personal details of their lives to the public. The tender, empathetic Great Freedom tells the story of one man repeatedly persecuted by the law. Hans (Franz Rogowski in a superlative performance) is liberated from a Nazi concentration camp by the Allies only to be transferred to prison to serve out his remaining sentence. Hans refuses to hide who he is and continues to rebel against the system. Thus, the walls and bars of the penitentiary are a recurring constant in his life. Ironically, it’s in prison that Hans finds his greatest love.