The Innocents

2016 "Deeply moving and emotionally layered."
7.3| 1h55m| PG-13| en| More Info
Released: 01 July 2016 Released
Producted By: France 2 Cinéma
Country: Poland
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.musicboxfilms.com/film/the-innocents
Synopsis

Poland, 1945. Mathilde, a young French Red Cross doctor, is on a mission to help the war survivors. When a nun seeks for her help, she is brought to a convent where several pregnant sisters are hiding, unable to reconcile their faith with their pregnancy. Mathilde becomes their only hope.

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Reviews

Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!
SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped
NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!
ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.
BuddyBoy60 ABOUT: Set in Poland, in the aftermath of World War II, a nun seeks the aid of a Red Cross medical volunteer to help tend to her pregnant convent sisters at the risk of scandal and dishonor. REVIEW: "The Innocents" is a very sad yet a precise picture of the place and most of all the people who were and still are being touched by the horrors of war and are trying very hard to keep their faith and regain the reason to move forward in life despite of. Truly, the characters where shown as they struggle in such unbearable circumstances. The film, right from the start was able to establish the tone to convey the general feelings of the characters. Though I have not been present when such events or those similar had happened, it became easier to identify with them and feel emotionally engaged. I credit this to the direction and the cinematography. The film is mostly depicted with sets in snow and moments of deafening silence which for me is perfect because they give the impression of intense feelings of loneliness and hopelessness which are essential to the story being told. Regarding the acting aspect of the film, I felt that every actor/actresses fleshed out their characters by playing the part with the right amount of subtlety and moments of peaks. They were able to exhibit the essential emotions properly and make you empathize with them and feel what they feel easily. These aspects, direction, cinematography, and acting worked well together that I can't seem to detect any flaw within the movie and if there is any, it wouldn't get in the way of how good this movie really is.FINAL WORD: Most people would peg this movie as just another art film and it is so as evident in how well-crafted the movie is. But it's just not that. It's not limited to being an eye candy and does not become solely extrinsic in value and self-indulgent. It is also about a subject of great substance and social interest. While it seems like only a few people had watched the movie (based on IMDb ratings) at this point, "The Innocents" is a good movie; one of the best I have seen with a story that has great emotional appeal this year. It really is a story needed to be told and in my opinion, was given a worthy cinematic treatment. Give it a try.
Bob An Initially I gave this film a rating ten, but now I think it is worth nine. Nevertheless, the film is very good.What I liked the best is the setting and the mood of the film. It is quite dark, quite cold ( set in the winter which somehow give something chilly to the already chilly and horrible story) and quite claustophobic ( if I may say that - since the most of the film is done inside a monastery and rooms/cells inside it).The story is gripping and powerful. You can not really stay 'untouched' by the tragedies that the sisters have undergone. And although the scenes were not shown when it happened to them - the scene where it almost happened to the nurse was enough to get the glimpse of what must have been like.The actors were all great - sisters and the nurse especially. I had a bit of a trouble to 'get into' the main doctor's character. I understand French and his way of speaking and making sentences was quite quite strange. But I guess it is meant to be like that.I also liked it was a mix of Polish and French. I know French and Polish is similar in some ways to Serbian so it was also nice to compare some words.I do recommend this film. Though must say that winter time would be more suitable for watching it ( to really get into the atmosphere).
Red-125 The French film Les innocentes was shown in the U.S. with the translated title The Innocents (2016). Anne Fontaine directed this powerful movie.The year is 1945, just after the end of World War II. A French Red Cross unit is sent into Poland. Their mission was to care for French survivors of the camps. Among the Red Cross staff is a young medical student, Mathilde Beaulieu, played by Lou de Laâge. Early in the film, we learn a terrible secret about the nuns in a nearby convent. Many of them are pregnant, because they were raped by Russian soldiers. Mathilde learns of this, and she is allowed to enter the convent, where she meets Sister Maria, a French-speaking nun played by Agata Buzek. To go further with the plot would diminish the movie, so I'll stop at that point. Let me just say that the situation is even worse than it seems.This is a movie that is not to be missed. Yes, it's grim, but postwar Poland was a grim place. The film takes place in winter, so snow covers everything, and even the Red Cross staff is miserable. Obviously, for the nuns in the convent, everything is much more terrible.The acting in the film by the two lead actors is outstanding. Also, the ensemble acting was wonderful. There were no weak links, and no obviously staged scenes. Everything looked real--cold, dark, and threatening--but real.This is one of those movies where many frames could be lifted from the film and used as a photograph. My compliments to cinematographer Caroline Champetier, who did a brilliant job.We saw this film at the excellent Little Theatre in Rochester, NY. It will work well enough on the small screen, but the large screen gives you a better sense of the isolation of the convent. The nuns don't expect help from outside. They only expect harm to come to them. Mathilde is the exception, and they (and we) understand that. Small screen or large screen, don't miss this movie!P.S. The film is based on the experiences of a French doctor--Madeleine Jeanne Marie Pauliac. She was a member of the French Resistance, and did, indeed work tirelessly in Poland after the war. For artistic reasons, director Fontaine focused on Dr. Pauliac's work with the pregnant nuns. The rest of her accomplishments would also make a fascinating movie.
Paul Allaer "The Innocents" (2016 release from Poland; 115 min.) brings the story "based on actual events" we are reminded at the beginning of the movie, of a convent for nuns in Poland, not long after the end of WWII. As the movie opens, the nuns are singing their Latin chants, as we hear a piercing scream in the background. It;s not long before one of the nuns convinces Mathilde, a woman at the French Red Cross to come with her for help. We see a woman, highly pregnant, and Mathilde performs an emergency caesarean> As it turns out, the Russian soldiers have done unspeakable things to the nuns. What will become of the convent? and the pregnant nuns? and Mathilde? To tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.Couple of comments: this is the latest film from French director Anne Fontaine, who most recently brought us the engaging "Gemma Bovery" and some years before that "Coco Before Chanel". Here she tackles a tough subject matter, namely what is a convent of about 25-30 nuns to do when, raped by Russian soldiers, a number of them become pregnant. (In the movie's end credits I picked up that the film is inspired by the French woman Madeleine Pauliac's Red Cross missions in Poland. The movie's script is from a nephew of Pauliac,) Fontaine thankfully decides to keep things somber and the movie almost feels like it's shot in black and white. Beware: there were a number of scenes that I had to cover my eyes, literally. How this movie is rated PG-13, instead of R, is a mystery to me. The role of Mathilde is played by up-and-coming French actress Lou de Laâge. Surely we have not seen the last of her. The performances from the nuns are equally up to par, but at times it's tough to keep track of whom is who, as they frankly all pretty much look alike, resulting from the way they are dressed. The movie was shot on location in Poland. Two years ago Poland brought us another outstanding post WWII nun drama called "Ida". "The Innocents" readily reminded of "Ida", although I think "Ida" was still a little better (it won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language movie, if I recall)."The Innocents" finally opened at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati this weekend, and I couldn't wait to see it. The Saturday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended nicely. I had expected it to be a packed house, but that was not the case, to my surprise. At the same time, it's not like you will walk away from "The Innocents" saying, well, that was a jolly good time!". "The Innocents" is not that type of movie. If on the other hand you are in the mood for a top notch foreign drama that deals with some very tough issues (and happens the be based on real-life events), then I would readily suggest you check out "The Innocents", be it in the theater, on Amazon Instant Video, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray. "The Innocents" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!