Director: Anne Fontaine
By Alex Watson
Films about faith walk a firm tightrope and this is no exception in Anne Fontaine's hard hitting The Innocents. While this is no easy movie to watch, Fontaine succeeds in giving a haunting portrayal of religion and loyalties tested during war-torn Poland in WWII. A quietly muted emotion is the principle strength of Fontaine's direction the inner conflicts that surface are heart rendering. Pigeonholed at Sundance as 'the pregnant nun movie' this movie goes to a much deeper root than this and this will likely be one of the better films you might miss in 2016.
When French Red Cross doctor Mathilde (Lou De Laage) is approached by a concerned Polish nun, she initially refuses as she is forbidden from assisting. When she is talking into helping she finds an unholy terror awaiting at the convent. After being brutally raped by Soviet soldiers, several of the nuns are now pregnant and about to give birth. Unable to call for assistance from their own country, Mathilde is forced to help them because if word gets out, the convent will be shut down.
Starting with a harrowing silence as hear cries of pain echo out among the nuns dawn prayer, Mathilde at first rejects the pleas of the panicked nun as she may only assist French citizens. When she finally arrives at the convent she meets the ultra-strict Reverend Mother (Agata Kulesza) and the more pious Sister Maria (Agata Buzek). In painful quiet, she delivers a baby via C-section and although she offers further assistance, the mother is keen to be rid of her. Soon we learn from Maria that no less than seven nuns were defiled by Soviet soldiers and the Mother is keen to avoid a scandal from brewing, Mathilde will soon forge bonds with the nuns as she helps with their medical care. When the babies are born we are told that the Mother will take them and get them new adoptive homes. This is what we are taught anyway, the reality of what happens is an ungodly horror of it own in the later stages.
The Innocents is a movie that treads carefully over the topic of religion, what is made clear is that God seems to have abandoned these walls long ago. Many of the nuns are wrestling with their once steadfast faith. The script by Sabrine B Karine and Alice Vial is one that examines every possible feeling on the moral spectrum as this impossible situation grows tenser. Fontaine is not interested in a quick resolution and takes her time letting the story play out. Mathilde and Sister Maria form a good connection as she tells of how she was not a virgin before she took her vows. Wiser to the way of life Maria is one voice of reason to her increasingly frantic elder. Mathilde's comes to respect the nuns through this picture and her quick thinking and lies prevent another vile situation from escalating into something gut wrenching. The examination process brings to light the different personalities of each nurse as one young nun giggles at her belly being touched while another shies away in fear.
This disillusion reaches its pinnacle as Fontaine's film reaching its third act. Through the picture, Rev. Mother has insisted on keeping up appearances and has only grudgingly allowed Mathilde's assistance. What little respect remains for the order is firmly tarnished as the remaining nuns begin to give birth. Some decide to flee the vocation and set about establishing new lives, some reclaim their faith in the strangest of places. The aftermath is the same for all in that nothing can ever be the same again. Mathilde along with her Jewish lover/fellow doctor Samuel (Vincent Macaigne) are both aware that their love affair will likely not go the distance and having become responsible for the lives of her new friends, she now can only do what she can. Fontaine makes us all think about the weight that a life of devoted religion carries and how some can be crushed under its weight.
Lou De Laage takes great control of the screen and as Mathilde, she is a strong and capable lead who is the moral leader of this film. Hesitant to be involved at first but once her eyes are opened to the scandal that has reared its head, Mathilde feels compelled to see it through. Agata Buzek is also strong as Maria and through her steely facade there lies a gentle soul who slowly comes realize that following her leader might not be the key. Agata Kulesza emerges as the film's strong point as the conflict but steadfast Rev.Mother. An icy and devout presence, Kulesza does well give a good impression of a woman who while keen to maintain order is definitely no fool. The acts she commits are always in the name of what she believes in and while her morality may be twisted, Mother is aware of what a big scandal will do to these women.
The Innocents is a movie that will make you think hard about not only the God you worship but about what we can do when faced with the suffering of others.
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