6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
In 1945 Poland, a young French Red Cross doctor who is sent to assist the survivors of the German camps discovers several nuns in advanced states of pregnancy during a visit to a nearby convent.
Starring: Lou de Laâge, Agata Buzek, Agata Kulesza, Vincent Macaigne, Joanna KuligWar | Insignificant |
Foreign | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
History | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English, French
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
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.
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 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 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.
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