The Innocents (2016)

1945. Mathilde is a French Red Cross doctor working on a mission to help the French survivors of the German camps. While she works in Poland, she is asked for help by a nun. In her convent, several nuns got pregnant.

Director:

Anne Fontaine

Writers:

Sabrina B. Karine (scenario), Alice Vial (scenario)

Stars:

Lou de Laâge, Agata Buzek, Agata Kulesza

3 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lou de Laâge	...	Mathilde Beaulieu
Agata Buzek	...	Maria
Agata Kulesza	...	Mère Abesse
Vincent Macaigne	...	Samuel
Joanna Kulig	...	Irena
Eliza Rycembel	...	Teresa
Katarzyna Dabrowska	...	Anna
Anna Próchniak	...	Zofia
Helena Sujecka	...	Ludwika
Mira Maluszinska	...	Bibiana
Dorota Kuduk	...	Wanda
Klara Bielawka	...	Joanna
Pascal Elso	...	Le colonel
Thomas Coumans	...	Gaspard
Leon Latan-Paszek	...	Wladek

Storyline

Poland, winter of 1945. Mathilde Beaulieu (Lou de Lâage) is a young intern working with a branch of the French Red Cross. They are on a mission to find, treat and repatriate French survivors of the German camps. One day, a Polish nun arrives in the hospital. In very poor French, she begs Mathilde to come to her convent. Mathilde life and beliefs change when she discovers the advanced state of pregnancy that affect several of the Sisters of the convent just outside the hospital where she performs.

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Plot Keywords:

soviet soldier | poland | soviet occupation of poland | rape of a nun | soviet army | 

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Taglines:

Deeply moving and emotionally layered.

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for disturbing thematic material including sexual assault, and for some bloody images and brief suggestive content

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Page Official site [Japan]

Country:

France Poland

Language:

French Polish Russian

Release Date:

10 February 2016 (France)

Also Known As:

The Innocents

Filming Locations:

Orneta, Warminsko-Mazurskie, Poland

Box Office

Budget:

€6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$127,112, 8 July 2016, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,063,893, 2 October 2016

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mandarin Films, Aeroplan Film, Mars Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Adèle Haenel was originally attached to play Mathilde.

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Quotes

Mathilde Beaulieu: Good night
Mathilde Beaulieu: I don't want to
[avoiding the kiss from Samuel]
Samuel: Me neither
Mathilde Beaulieu: I mean it
Samuel: So do I
Samuel: What?
[as she tries to stop him from ascending the stairs]
Mathilde Beaulieu: You're too old
Samuel: Charming...
[...]

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Soundtracks

Vox clara ecce intonat
Written by Hildegard von Bingen
Performed by Elsa Papatanasios, Emmanuelle Huteau, Marie George Monet and Nathalie Liess

User Reviews

A soulful essay about atrocities committed against nuns during war.

Most war films recount history as if women were never involved or their experiences not worth mentioning. That is just one of many reasons why The Innocents (2016) stands out in the war film genre: it is about, for, and made by women. The result is a soulful essay about atrocities committed against a group of nuns during the second world war, portrayed as a complex metaphorical struggle between religious faith, medical science, and evil.

The linear plot line is as austere as the film's narrative. We meet a serene and devout convent of Benedictine nuns in Poland who go about their daily prayer with quiet conviction and meticulous adherence to ritual. The serenity is shattered by the scream of a nun about to give birth. One nun fetches a French Red Cross medical intern Mathilde Beaulieu (Lou de Laáge) who sneaks out of the aid mission to help. She learns that Soviet soldiers had raped the nuns and several births were imminent. Mathilde is a non-believer yet is bewildered by the strength of the nun's faith and compelled to help. The nuns believe they are complicit in sin, and some are unable to even submit to medical examination while others do so with deep shame. The tension between sin and evil erupts when the baby is born and Mother Superior takes it out for fostering but instead leaves it in the forest. With more births coming, a convent full of babies cannot survive under Soviet occupation. It is Mathilde who finds an ingenious solution that ensures their survival.

Within this narrative arc, there are several strands that explore the nature and practice of faith by a group of women with varied backgrounds and different relationships with their god. Throughout the story, the tension between belief and logic creates a haunting presence. Young Mathilde struggles in a vortex of faith, science and evil, and comes to learn that there are no absolutes. The dystopia of war shatters all, yet faith survives in love and devotion to helping others. She grows emotionally with the experience just as the nun's learn tolerance of those who do not share their faith.

While the film has a strong cast of fine performers, it is Lou de Laage who shines brightly in a difficult role. She seamlessly traverses a wide emotional range from inspired awe to resolute determination to help, including restrained romantic explorations with a senior colleague. The portrait-like cinematography conveys the bleak landscape and convent solitude with a sympathetic lens that avoids despair. The film is a tribute not only to the violated nuns but to women of all nationalities mistreated at the hands of military forces. Rape in war continues in modern times, with many nations in denial and others struggling with unresolved shame. This is not an entertaining story, but a dark episode of history on which light has long been needed.