A sober look at post-war Poland, from a woman’s angle
A sober look at post-war Poland, from a woman’s angle
Set in the aftermath of World War II, it’s the story of Mathilde (Lou de Laage), a young French doctor working for the Red Cross in Poland, who comes upon a convent with many pregnant nuns — victims of rape by the victorious Soviet Army.
The Soviet Army is still controlling the area, and the possibility of further assaults remains.
The capacity of French cinema to keep producing actresses that radiate gravity and maturity at a young age has always been astonishing, but it’s particularly noticeable in comparison to Hollywood, where, with the exception of Jennifer Lawrence, adulthood seems to begin somewhere between 32 and 35.
De Laage, who became known in the United States only last year for playing a manipulative high school girl in “Respire,” has poise and a compelling ability to suggest a turbulent intelligence with minimum visible effort.
Though de Laage is especially notable, the acting in “The Innocents” is first-rate throughout, with Agata Kulesza a rather tragic figure, as the stern Mother Superior too concerned with scandal to offer proper guidance, and Agata Buzek as Maria, a down-to-earth nun who discovered her calling when already a grown woman.
[...] as this is a Fontaine film, it should come as no surprise that the sexual dynamic between Mathilde and her sometime lover, Samuel (Vincent Macaigne), a fellow doctor, is especially rich and interesting.
With most directors, you can understand 99 percent of a scene with your eyes closed, just by listening to the dialogue.
Rather it’s just the inevitable consequence of writers and directors imagining life through the filter of their own experience.