Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Innocents Blu-ray Movie Review

Superior mothers.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 6, 2016

Jack Clayton fashioned one of the most evocative horror films of its era with 1961’s The Innocents, a psychological thriller based on Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw. Quite a different type of horror, albeit with its own searing psychological ramifications, is at the core of Anne Fontaine’s 2016 drama bearing the same title as Clayton’s film (though it was evidently originally released under the title Agnus Dei). This particular The Innocents claims it’s based on a true story, but more than a bit of fictionalizing may be at play, at least as evidenced by a cursory comparison of the life story of French doctor and World War II resistance fighter Madeleine Pauliac and the character of Mathilde Beaulieu (Lou de Laâge), supposedly based on Pauliac. While Pauliac was a fully degreed and highly experienced doctor, The Innocents posits Mathilde as an adventurous nurse working for the French Red Cross in Poland in the wake of World War II. When an earnest and slightly panicked Polish nun named Irena (Joanna Kulig) accosts Mathilde at a field hospital begging for help, both a language barrier and actual “rules of engagement” which keep the French Mathilde from offering aid to a Pole, initially make Mathilde unwilling (or perhaps unable) to help. When Mathilde later sees Irena out in the cold winter wind kneeling in prayer, her conscience kicks in, and she drives back to the convent, where she’s taken to a woman in the throes of an extremely painful breech birth. Mathilde manages to perform an emergency C-section, saving the baby and the mother, whom the nuns tell her is a local woman shunned by her family. When Mathilde returns to the convent the next day to check on the newborn and mother, she discovers a horrible and horrifying secret the convent and its harridan Mother Superior (Agata Kulesza, who also co-starred in that "other" film about Polish nuns, Ida) have been trying to keep under wraps.

When a nun falls over in a faint in a hallway of the dilapidated convent, Mathilde rushes to her aid (despite supposedly being a “secret” interloper), and is shocked to discover that this woman, too, is pregnant. That leads to the revelation on the part of the Mother Superior and her chief acolyte Sister Maria (Agata Buzek), a woman who is able to speak French with Mathilde, that the nuns had been the victims of a Russian “occupation” that included serial rapes of the women, leading to several of them becoming pregnant. The Mother Superior is insistent that no outside agencies get involved, since it would mean the closure of the convent and life altering shame for the women, despite the fact that they were obviously blameless for the situation. In a not all that convincing display of “necessary” plot mechanics, Maria convinces Mathilde to be the sole medical professional handling the situation.

The relationship between Mathilde and the nuns (both pregnant and otherwise) continues to inform the film, as Mathilde has to overcome the nuns’ fear of even being touched, not to mention the lingering psychological traumas they’ve experienced. That would seem to provide more than enough drama for any film, but The Innocents also attempts to work in a romantic subplot between Mathilde and her supervisor back at the field hospital, Samuel (Vincent Macagne), a French Jew who has his own issues regarding faith and more saliently how Poland treated its Jewish citizens. In fact the film is filled to the brim with often fascinating tidbits about various characters’ pasts, and it’s to the credit of the screenplay (co-written by Fontaine) that it manages to detail everything in an organic and believable way.

The film’s central plot dynamic is so compelling that some may question more melodramatic moments like the reappearance of the Russians, who first threaten Mathilde with the same sort of treatment they foisted off on the nuns, and who later show up back at the convent, supposedly to wreak more havoc. These hyperbolic sequences cohabitate a bit uneasily with the more subtle and intellectual proclivities of the film, where issues of faith, identity and shame are all explored with considerable nuance. While one might expect a traditional faith versus reason approach, given the interaction of a doctor (or nurse) and a bunch of nuns, The Innocents is considerably more intermingled in how each character responds to the issues at hand, another element which supports the film's dour but ultimately hopeful tone.

The Innocents has one more horrifying plot point up its habit sleeve as Mathilde and Samuel begin acting as midwives at the convent, something that “feels” authentic even if it tips the film ever so slightly toward a more traditional horror ambience. The generally tamped down emotional ambience the actors bring to their portrayals help to elide the inherently gruesome aspect to this plot development, and allow the narrative to move forward to what is a perhaps unbelievable (considering the general circumstances) happy ending. The Innocents has a lot on its mind, and perhaps could have benefited from some judicious trimming of some of the sidebars the story wants to get into, but its careful examination of finding faith in the most perilous of situations is unexpectedly moving.

Note: My colleague Brian Orndorf had a perhaps even more positive reaction to the film. You can read Brian's thoughts here.

The Innocents Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Innocents is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Music Box Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Shot digitally with various Sony CineAlta cameras (according to the IMDb), the look of this feature is kind of intentionally drab and tamped down, with low contrast and an emphasis on blacks and whites that makes it look almost monochromatic or at least desaturated at times. Many of the convent scenes are graded in cool blue tones (see screenshots 2, 6 and 17), something that tends to mask fine detail levels at times, especially in the frequent dimly lit sequences. A number of the scenes featuring Mathilde and Samuel as nascent lovers are bathed in more of a golden hue (see screenshot 5), something that perhaps minimally supports better detail levels. In bright (if wintry) lighting, things pop better, though again there are only brief bursts of color as in the red cross adorning the medical truck. In these more brightly lit moments, fine detail is often quite excellent (see the wood patterns on the door in screenshot 18).

The Innocents Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Innocents features DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and 5.1 tracks in a mixture of Polish and French (with optional English subtitles). Aside from some well placed ambient environmental sounds and occasional intrusions from an understated score, there's relatively little difference between these tracks since so much of the film plays out in quieter dialogue moments. The 5.1 tracks provides more energy in a few isolated sequences, like the attempted attack against Mathilde or some of the scenes where Mathilde and Samuel are sampling the "night life" after work. Fidelity is fine and there are no problems to report in terms of damage, dropouts or distortion.

The Innocents Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making The Innocents (1080p; 17:36) offers some good interviews and behind the scenes footage.


• Interview with Anne Fontaine (1080i; 11:11) also has quite a bit of behind the scenes footage interspersed with interview segments.


• Anne Fontaine Director Q & A with Agnieszka Holland (1080p; 14:59) is from a Directors Guild of America function in Los Angeles, evidently done right after a screening.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:15)

The Innocents Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Innocents has some extremely provocative material to sort through, and it's commendable that it does a generally balanced and moving job of it. I personally think the film could have been shorn of a couple of its more hyperbolic plot developments and not have lost any of its intrinsic power. Performances are uniformly strong, if often rather low on the histrionics, and Fontaine has put together a convincing physical production as well. Technical merits are generally strong, and The Innocents comes Recommended.