Sublime. Gorgeous. Complex and utterly engaging. A movie to challenge the spirit and ignite one's faith in the power of human connection.
4
A remarkable study of character. And a study of transitions; from an older, more repressed feminine life to a newer, freer one with more choices. From the traumatized and paralyzed mind to the mind looking for options. Wonderful.
2
I saw this movie last night and loved it. I'm a little unclear about the Abbess's motivations, though. I thought her murdering the babies was probably a result of syphilis affecting her brain. I don't understand the "risking disgrace" part -- seems like it pales compared to infanticide. Can anyone shed light on this?
3
I, too, thought that the Abbess's killing of the infant was a plot contrivance that diminished the otherwise authentic sensibility of the film. At the close of the film, I noticed that the nuns were caring for six infants. I assumed that the Abbess had been the catalyst in the death of one infant. It is true, though, that a line or two of dialogue cast an ambivalence upon her conduct in this matter of the infants. The writer and the director chose their ending wisely. Instead of clinging to a life that isolates themselves from the world, the nuns open their convent to the needs of the community. They become care-givers to the orphaned children and to the infants. They are, in effect, activating the works of charity and compassion that their Savior had demonstrated.
2
The Abbess explains this herself toward the end of the film. She felt that she was protecting her nuns from scandal and excommunication, and did so with the belief that by her acts she was condemning her own soul.
3
Saw it last night and spent hours afterward researching the amazing cast and director on IMDB. Their performances will haunt you. Excellent film.
5
The acting is superb. The story is heart wrenching.
1
Having just seen this movie I have to agree with the reviewer that the ending is a jarringly out of character with everything that came earlier. I found the film to be a moving, wrenching experience - beautifully shot and acted as well - but the implausibly upbeat ending was a let down.
4
Maybe, but think a little bit about what's involved to get to that ending, with respect to "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor". Besides, perhaps after such a draining story, the filmmakers wanted to grant a small sop of emotional release.
1
I have seen it. It is a masterpiece.
9
Reading these comments, I have just one thought...
Never in the field of film criticism has so much been said by so many about something so few have seen.
Never in the field of film criticism has so much been said by so many about something so few have seen.
4
I just came from seeing this film (loved it) and am now reading reviews. The entire movie was revealed here, and that is why I NEVER read reviews until after I've seen the film.
8
Holden's reviews are invariably full of plot spoilers. I never read *his* reviews until after I've seen the film, but I will often read A.O. Scott's or Manola Dargis's reviews beforehand.
1
I'm disappointed with the "my people suffered more" comments. You did. There are many war horror stories. War is a horror. There is room for many horror stories.
9
I cannot comment of the movie, which I definitely want to see. But, I can see, based on these comments, that we've learned little from our history. From the heated pander I see, history has been a remarkably lousy teacher.
Nationalism, whether it be the "American", "Russian", "Polish", "Jewish", "Islamic", .... leads to hate, death and destruction.
And, Nationalism is raising it horned head/cloven foot again - God Help US.
A horrible, unchangeable fact of human nature?
Nationalism, whether it be the "American", "Russian", "Polish", "Jewish", "Islamic", .... leads to hate, death and destruction.
And, Nationalism is raising it horned head/cloven foot again - God Help US.
A horrible, unchangeable fact of human nature?
5
Tantamount wrote, "I'm glad to see that, for once, they make movies about the horrors of WWII without dealing with the experiences of the Jewish people."
Without going deeper into the meaning of that statement, here is a short list of films dealing with the WWII that contradicts the author's contention:
"The Battlle of Stalingrad (USSR),"The Bridge on the River Kwai" (UK), "The Cranes are Flying" (USSR), "Destiny of a Man" (USSR), "Judgement of Nuremberg" (USA), "The Longest Day" (USA), "The First Day of Freedom" (Poland), "Battle of Britain" (UK), "They Fought for Their Country" (USSR), "Sophie's Choice" (USA), "Black Rain" (Japan), "Bin Voyage" (UK), "Atonement" (UK), "The Ninth Day" (Germany, "Katyn" (Poland), "Saving Private Ryan" (USA).
Without going deeper into the meaning of that statement, here is a short list of films dealing with the WWII that contradicts the author's contention:
"The Battlle of Stalingrad (USSR),"The Bridge on the River Kwai" (UK), "The Cranes are Flying" (USSR), "Destiny of a Man" (USSR), "Judgement of Nuremberg" (USA), "The Longest Day" (USA), "The First Day of Freedom" (Poland), "Battle of Britain" (UK), "They Fought for Their Country" (USSR), "Sophie's Choice" (USA), "Black Rain" (Japan), "Bin Voyage" (UK), "Atonement" (UK), "The Ninth Day" (Germany, "Katyn" (Poland), "Saving Private Ryan" (USA).
5
Perhaps it would be a good idea to see the movie before
commenting. It seems to me that the movie will be
extremely thought provoking, maybe unexpectedly so.
commenting. It seems to me that the movie will be
extremely thought provoking, maybe unexpectedly so.
15
Has this reviewer heard of "spoiler alert"?
1
It sounds like it was not as good as Ida, which was one of the great films of the decade.
9
Ida was BOR-ING. I hated it.
2
My dear friend in Portland, I couldn't agree more. I'm still recovering from "Ida." It's masterful.
2
I just saw "The Innocents". It's not quite as good as "Ida", but definitely worth seeing.
2
Returning jews who actually survived the horrors of German camps in 1945, were attacked and murdered by the Polish when they claimed stolen homes and properties.
15
Your point!
3
I am not sure what this comment means. Does your fact make the events underlying this movie ok? We are to feel no sympathy for these nuns?
7
Somehow the handful of cliches in that short trailer do not speak to a promising film experience. Something tells me this movie is going to have an agenda, and it may not have anything to do with the truth.
4
Explain your untenable position, especially since you seem not to know that you can never judge a movie by its trailer.
15
why shouldn't a movie have "an agenda"? if there is something to be said, that makes a great change from mindless, blow 'em up, non-narrative movies that are fed to us today. even if it is an "agenda" you don't agree with, it will make you think and reflect. or is that what you object to?
5
In fact you can quite often judge a film by it's trailer and I've become quite adept at doing so. Nonetheless, I didn't assert any absolute claims. I stated that the cliches 'do not speak to a promising experience'. I'm not even sure what you take issue with. Can people not disagree?
A movie portraying the horrors inflicted on women by warfare? Excellent! It is in understanding the particular that we grasp the general, and can more wisely apply what is to be learned for the benefit of all.
23
More attacks on the Church........
5
So you missed this part of the article: “The Innocents” is based on real events, recounted in notes by Madeleine Pauliac, a Red Cross doctor on whom Mathilde is based." On what planet are real events in which nuns were victimized "an attack on the Church?"
40
which one?
4
Your close-mindedness is showing. You give your faith a bad name. And I'll bet you haven't even seen the film yet and never will. You are a disgrace.
1
I look forward eagerly to this film if only to see the brilliant, Agata Kulesza, who played,Wanda, in 2013, Ida, Oscar winner for best foreign film. Ida also set in Poland, but in the 60’s.
10
I wonder what was the feeling among nuns and priests in Poland right after WW2, having witnessed the brutal and systematic genocide of the Jews by the Nazis and their collaborators. If this movie doesn't address that, there's something very wrong with it. I would think that it would be the main thing in their minds. By the way, I'm Roman Catholic.
41
The Poles killed the surviving Jews who returned to their properties after the war. It would have been an ongoing thing during the time of the movie.
26
To APS: That's an over-generalization. Some Poles did that. Putting "Poles" into a box as a group is wfully similat to what the Nazis did regarding the Jews. Check Yad Vasherm for the stories of righteous Gentiles among the "Poles." I woiuldn't generalize about them either, or say that "Poles" helped the Jews. Again, SOME did. (Note that the consequences of helping Jews, in Poland, or doing anythinng else in the way of resisting the Nazis, had even more drastic consequences for the perpetrators, and their family and friends, than similar attempts to aid in a number of other Occupied countries. The Nazis were, to some degree, trying to mollify the French, Dutch, Italians; the Poles were eventually doomed, in the Nazi agenda, to be reduced to slave laborers; so there was no consideration at all for them. It's amazing to me that any Poles were bold enough to resist at all.)
28
Mind you not just any Poles but those those who were part of or connected to communist system and mainly its aparat of oppression located in police and security agencies all of them run by many Jewish aparatchiks who came to Poland with Soviet army.
I continue to be fascinated by the WW2 era. Many died, many lived but were dead inside, others did horrible crimes and all for what? My school history books talked about "triumph of good over evil" but the more you scratch the surface, the more odd the story gets. I desperately hope that we don't go to that abyss again but given the recent turn of events, I wonder how far my hope would take us...
58
Cannot wait to see this! Thanks, NYT, for the review.
17
I think the last sentence gives away the film's ending.
12
Yes Patty, I thought the same things.
2
No, it doesn't. The last sentence of the review deals with another part of the plot a fair bit before the film ends.
2