Poland, 1945. Mathilde, a young French Red Cross doctor, is on a mission to help the war survivors. When a nun seeks for her help, she is brought to a convent where several pregnant sisters are hiding, unable to reconcile their faith with their pregnancy. Mathilde becomes their only hope.
Lou de Laâge
Mathilde Beaulieu
Agata Buzek
Nun Maria
Agata Kulesza
Mother Superior
Vincent Macaigne
Samuel
Joanna Kulig
Nun Irena
Eliza Rycembel
Teresa
Katarzyna Dąbrowska
Nun Anna
Anna Próchniak
Zofia
Helena Sujecka
Ludwika
Mira Maludzińska
Bibiana
Dorota Kuduk
Nun Wanda
Klara Bielawka
Joanna
Pascal Elso
Colonel Poix
Thomas Coumans
Gaspard
Leon Latan-Paszek
Wladek
Joanna Fertacz
Zofia's Aunt
Zacharjasz Muszyński
Russian Corporal
Mariusz Jakus
Russian Officer
Tomasz Sobczak
Russian Soldier
Sasza Reznikow
Russian Soldier
Denys Ivenov
Russian Soldier
Paweł Janyst
Russian Soldier
Aliaksandr Malchanau
Russian Soldier
Otar Saralidze
Russian Soldier
Artur Janusiak
Russian Soldier
Helena Norowicz
Old Nun
Karolina Zieleń
Nun
Ewa Trzewicarz
Nun
Małgorzata Paprocka
Nun
Marta Mazurek
Nun
Iwona Dombek-Rybczyńska
Nun
Dorota Zielińska
Nun
Aldona Jankowska
Nun
Barbara Sienkiewicz
Nun
Magdalena Gnatowska
Nun
Danuta Borsuk
Nun
Ewa Pałuska
Nun
Katarzyna Skolimowska
Nun
Maria Szadkowska
Nun
Hanna Wolicka
Nun
Anna Korzeniecka
Nun
Irena Telesz-Burczyk
Nun
Wiktoria Adamczyk
Street Child
Franciszek Maziuk
Street Child
Kryspin Kozłowski
Street Child
Radosław Kowieszko
Street Child
Fabian Zajączkowski
Street Child
Julian Plewa
Street Child
Konrad Dzierzkiewicz
Street Child
Maciek Pawełczyk
Street Child
Weronika Humaj
Girl That Danced with Samuel
Karol Paluch
Child of Zofia's Aunt
Kacper Leśniak
Child of Zofia's Aunt
Marek Szukiełojc
Child of Zofia's Aunt
Delfina Wilkońska
Girl in the Bar
Andrzej Rydel
Photographer
Director, Adaptation, Dialogue
Anne Fontaine
Adaptation, Dialogue
Pascal Bonitzer
Idea
Philippe Maynial
Screenplay
Alice Vial
Screenplay
Sabrina B. Karine
July 30, 2017
8
**When the house of peace was disturbed!**
From the director Anne Fontaine. Like any of her works, this is another top class women oriented film. But it was partially based on the incredible true story. Partial means, no one knows what was the actual event. The director and her writers inspired by the diary the French doctor who worked for Red Cross in Poland at the end of the World War II, who wrote down her experience on it. So, with the small-small facts the story was built on for the film. Well done job by the cast and crew.
Whenever you hear the word/abbreviation 'WWII', it always bound with nazi Germans. Since this tale takes place just after the war, when the Soviet took over the Poland from them, it is set to reveal one of the extremely hidden secrets. Just imagine how secret it is, like you have read many books and have seen many films regarding the WWII, but you have never heard about this, until now. It is a heart rending tale, but the thing is everything's about the aftermath, how they handled their state of condition.
Mathilde, the French doctor is fetched by a nun from the nearby convent is shocked when she reached there to see most of them are in the final stage of their pregnancy. They were sexually abused by the Soviet soldiers, but now she as to keep it quiet as requested by the mother superior. She's being an atheist and to whom she's treating, the believers, is exactly the opposite kind. But not just her, the nuns as well put aside their differences to overcome their situation.
> ❝For us nuns, the end of the war does not mean the end of fear.❞
It's right on the coldest winter, does not tell about the original violence, but there's still a few incidents about the army atrocities, how they treated innocent nuns, even the Red Cross members. But remember nothing was the actual depiction. It would have been even better if it was a documentary film. Doing some research and telling us the tale, reading exactly as what was written in the diary. But the film was not bad, except the scene to scene, event to event it was very slow to move, except right on the point.
The story has a twist, but it was not like very powerful. It depends on how you would consider it. Because for me, I felt it was too cruel, hard to take on. The story about church people means, you would expect a gentle kind. Or even in such situation, as in this film, to react as much as possibly generously as what they're known for. But in the first place, it was no ones fault. They all fighting for the same reason, especially keeping the outside world in mind, each one reacted differently. So it is understandable, but not all the acts were respectable.
As the director said in her interview, this is a period film, but pretty much the same in the contemporary world where war is on. The violence against the innocent women. So it is a debatable topic. And if it was directed by some male filmmaker, he might have risked with the violences in the flashback scenes to bring more depth in the narration. The present film is kind of compromises on that, but still not easy to watch everything it shows. Particularly for the families. Great performances by all. One of the best films on this theme and of the year. The film is not to be ignored. Despite not about the war, but just like 'Under Sandet', about the following event.
_8/10_