Agnus Dei - The Innocent

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Movie
German title Agnus Dei - The Innocent
Original title Les innocentes
Country of production France ,
Poland
original language French ,
Polish
Publishing year 2016
length 115 minutes
Rod
Director Anne Fontaine
script Sabrina B. Karine ,
Alice Vial ,
Pascal Bonitzer ,
Anne Fontaine
production Eric Altmayer
Nicolas Altmayer
music Grégoire Hetzel
camera Caroline Champetier
cut Annette Dutertre
occupation

Agnus Dei is a 2016 Franco-Polish drama film directed by Anne Fontaine .

action

Poland in December 1945: The young nurse Mathilde Beaulieu works for the French Red Cross and has the task of looking after French soldiers and preparing them for the trip back home. One day the young Benedictine nun Maria shows up and asks her for help. Mathilde refers her to her Polish colleagues, but Maria insists on her help. She drives her to the convent, where it turns out that young Zofia is heavily pregnant. The mother superior presents the woman as an outsider who was accepted by the convent in her situation. Mathilde helps with the birth. The next day she returns to the convent to check on the mother and child. The inmates of the monastery are opposed to her and the mother superior in particular rejects the interference of outsiders in everyday monastery life. Mathilde soon realizes the truth: Zofia is one of the nuns. At the end of the war the convent was attacked by the Germans and the Russians; numerous nuns were raped and are now pregnant. One woman has already died in childbirth without medical assistance. A total of six women are pregnant, reports Maria, but it turns out that other women are simply suppressing their pregnancy.

Mathilde now spends her evenings and nights in the monastery, examining the women and helping with the birth. She is putting herself in danger: She appears overtired to work for the Red Cross, which her superior does not hide, and is almost raped by the Russians once on the way home in the dark. When one day two women give birth at the same time, Mathilde inevitably lets in on her colleague and lover Samuel, who is now helping her. Maria believes that the children are placed with the Mother Superior and usually stay with relatives of the nuns. However, Zofia discovers that the Mother Superior abandons the toddlers in the forest and lets them die. She is so desperate that she takes her own life. Maria discovers the Mother Superior's secret when she tells Zofia's relatives about the young woman's death and inquires about Zofia's baby. There is a violent argument between the Mother Superior and Mary. In the end, the nun flees to Mathilde's camp with another woman and the newborns. She finds the solution: The orphans from the area are accommodated in the monastery. So in the future it will not be noticed that there are also newborns whose mothers are the nuns. In the spring, Mother Superior lies dying; six babies have now been born and the nuns thank Mathilde, who has since gone to France, by post for her commitment, which they see as a gift from God.

production

Agnus Dei - The Innocents is based on the true story of the young doctor Mathilde Pauliac, who wrote down the experiences in a diary. According to their records, 45 nuns were attacked and raped in the monastery; 20 died.

The film was shot in an abandoned monastery in Poland, with part of the interior being reconstructed for the shooting. Katarzyna Lewinska created the costumes, Joanna Macha designed the film .

The film premiered on January 26, 2016 at the Sundance Film Festival . On February 10, 2016, it was shown in French cinemas, where it was seen by more than 500,000 viewers. In Germany it was shown on June 30, 2016 at the Munich Film Festival .

Awards

At the Semana Internacional de Cine de Valladolid , Anne Fontaine won the FIPRESCI Prize for Agnus Dei - The Innocents . In addition, the film ran in the competition for the Golden Ear. Anne Fontaine received the In the Spirit of Freedom Award for Best Fiction Film at the Jerusalem Film Festival and the Andreas Award at Den norske filmfestivalen 2016.

Caroline Champetier was nominated for a Chlotrudis Award in the category Best Cinematography in 2017 . In 2017, the film received four César nominations in the categories of Best Film , Best Director , Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography , but it did not win any of the categories.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Anne Fontaine: "Le viol de bonne sœur est une double arme de guerre" . europe1.fr, January 30, 2016.
  2. ^ Arnaud Schwartz: "Les Innocentes", dans le secret d'un couvent . la-croix.com, February 9, 2016.
  3. ↑ Secrets tournage: Trouver le couvent on allocine.fr
  4. ^ Culturebox: "Les Innocentes": les bénédictines polonaises crient à la manipulation . culturebox.francetvinfo.fr, March 8, 2016.