The Innocents (2016 film)

The Innocents

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Anne Fontaine
Produced by Éric Altmayer
Nicolas Altmayer
Philippe Carcassonne
Written by Sabrina B. Karine
Pascal Bonitzer
Anne Fontaine
Alice Vial
Based on an original concept
by Philippe Maynial
Starring Lou de Laâge
Agata Kulesza
Agata Buzek
Vincent Macaigne
Music by Grégoire Hetzel
Cinematography Caroline Champetier
Edited by Annette Dutertre
Production
company
Aeroplan Film
France 2 Cinéma
Mandarin Cinéma
Mars Films
Scope Pictures
Distributed by Mars Distribution (France)
Release dates
  • 26 January 2016 (2016-01-26) (Sundance)
  • France (France)
Running time
 115 minutes
Country France
Poland
Belgium
Language French
Polish
Dutch
Russian
Budget €6.4 million
Box office $6 million

The Innocents (French: Les Innocentes) is a 2016 French film directed by Anne Fontaine, which features Lou de Laâge, Agata Kulesza, Agata Buzek and Vincent Macaigne in its cast.[1][2] The script is by Sabrina B. Karine, Pascal Bonitzer, Anne Fontaine and Alice Vial, after an original idea by Philippe Maynial.[3] Maynial based his idea on the experiences of his aunt, the French Red Cross doctor Madeleine Pauliac, in Poland after World War II.[4]

Plot

In December 1945, a young French Red Cross medical student, Mathilde Beaulieu (Lou de Laâge), is sent to Poland as part of a medical mission to assist the survivors of the war. She is approached by a Polish nun who pleads with Mathilde to come with her. Unable to understand what she is saying Mathilde advises her to go the Polish Red Cross for assistance.

Hours later, after finishing with a surgery, Mathilde sees the nun outside praying. Mathilde decides to go with the nun to her convent, where she is taken to a young woman who is in labour. The nuns tell her the woman has been cast out by her family for getting pregnant out of wedlock. Realizing it is a breech birth, Mathilde successfully performs an emergency caesarean. Though the majority of the nuns, including the Mother Superior are cold and unfriendly, Mathilde obtains permission to come again the following day to treat the new mother.

Upon her return she learns that the young baby has been taken away to be given to the mother's family. She also sees a nun faint and realizes, to her surprise, that the nun is pregnant. Sister Maria, a bilingual nun who is able to communicate with Mathilde in French, informs her that there are a total of 7 nuns who are pregnant after being raped by Soviet soldiers multiple times over several days. Mathilde wants to ask her fellow Red Cross workers for help dealing with the women, but after she finally obtains the Mother Superior's permission to examine the nuns she learns that it will only be permitted if she is the only one who knows.

Mathilde examines her patients but has intense difficulty as the nuns suffer from PTSD because of their rapes, and additionally many of them see being touched at all as a sin. After a difficult first attempt at examining her patients Mathilde tries to return back to the Red Cross camp only to be stopped by Soviet soldiers who attempt to rape her. When their commander hears her screams, he orders his men away from her and lets her resume her travels. She returns to the convent where the nuns harbour her for the night. Returning to the Red Cross in the morning she is berated for taking the car she used to travel to the convent. Mathilde stays silent about where she has been going, and continues her mission by travelling to and from the convent by bicycle.

At one point when Mathilde is with the women, the Soviet soldiers again return. Mathilde is able to get them to leave by claiming that the convent is quarantined due to an outbreak of typhus. Mathilde's quick thinking earns her the begrudging respect of the Mother Superior and the gratitude of the nuns. Meanwhile another nun, whom no one had previously known was pregnant, abruptly gives birth. Mathilde asks Sister Maria's help in keeping news of the birth away from Mother Superior in order to give the child enough time to grow strong before it is given away to be adopted. As the child's mother is still in a state of shock and has rejected the baby, Mathilde brings the child to Zofia (the first nun to give birth) who eagerly takes care of the baby, breastfeeding her and deciding to baptize her Helena.

Mathilde receives an emergency call from Sister Maria informing her that two of the nuns are giving birth at the same time. She enlists the aid of Samuel, her co-worker and lover, to come with her. A Jew whose entire family has been killed in the war, Samuel has complicated feelings towards the nuns as they are part of the Poland that turned its back on the Jews. However he agrees to help them and the nuns in turn reluctantly trust him despite their wariness around men. Mathilde and Samuel are able to successfully deliver the children.

However, during the dual labours, Mother Superior finds out about Helena and takes her away, ostensibly to be adopted. Zofia sees the Mother Superior and tries to follow her, becoming lost in the woods. She sees that the Mother Superior has not been giving the children away to be adopted, but rather is exposing them to the elements. Subsequently, Zofia commits suicide. After her death, Sister Maria finds a pair of knit booties Sister Zofia made for her child. She makes the trek to the home of Zofia's only remaining relative to give her the news of Zofia's death and bring the booties to the child, but upon her arrival she realizes that Zofia's aunt knows nothing about any baby.

Realizing the children are unsafe with the Mother Superior, Sister Maria and Sister Anna, along with three of the newborns, make their way to the Red Cross, where they take shelter. Mathilde urges them to return to the convent, bringing with her several of the orphaned children who spend their time around the Red Cross. She persuades the convent to accept all the children, as the orphaned Polish children will cloak the arrival of so many newborns and the sisters will be able to raise their children without shame. In the process, the other nuns begin to understand that Mother Superior had never delivered any of the previous infants over to adoption, and they subsequently feel horror and anger at her. The Mother Superior leaves the room, acknowledging that she has condemned her soul by her actions.

Six months later, the convent is a much happier place. The novice nuns finally take their vows after a long delay due to the war. The older children are happy in their new home. Together the nuns pose with their newborn infants and send the picture to Mathilde along with a letter in which they thank her for what she did for them.

Cast

Production

The film is a French-Polish-Belgian co-production that was supported by the Polish Film Institute and the Film Commission Poland.[5] Principal photography began on 13 January 2015 in the Warmia region in Poland, and lasted for seven weeks.[6] The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2016.[7] In some countries the film is titled Agnus Dei.

Reception

Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score from 1 to 100 with respect to reviews from mainstream critics, gave the film a score of 78 based on 20 critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes rated the film 93% "fresh" (positive) based on 54 reviews. The site's consensus indicated that:

"The Innocents isn't always easy to watch, but its nuanced exploration of complex themes - and its refreshing perspective - are well worth the effort".

References

  1. ↑ Stephen Holden (2016-06-30). "Review: In 'The Innocents,' Not Even Nuns Are Spared War Horrors". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
  2. ↑ Kenneth Turan (2016-06-30). "'The Innocents' strikingly tells of what befell a convent victimized during WWII". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
  3. ↑ Noémie Luciani (2016-02-09). "Les Innocentes: face au viol, l'arme de la foi". Le Monde. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
  4. ↑ Julien Pellicier (2016-02-15). "Cinéma: l'héroïne du film "Les Innocentes" est originaire de Villeneuve-sur-Lot". Sud-Ouest. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
  5. ↑ "Films Distribution Boards Anne Fontaine's 'Agnus Dei' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. 21 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "Shoot due to kick off soon for Anne Fontaine's Agnus Dei". Cineuropa. 7 January 2015.
  7. ↑ "The Complete 2016 Sundance Film Festival Lineup". Indiewire. 8 December 2015.

External links

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