The Innocents, 2016

Feb. 3, 2022 | NEYDA SIGUENCIA CALLE

The movie opens up with a nun desperately looking for a doctor, a Polish woman is dying. A little homeless boy helps her out but she emphasizes that it cannot be a Polish or Russian doctor. The little boy takes her to a French Red Cross but they do not want to help her, they said she needs to go to a Polish Red Cross. The nurse, Mathilde (Lou de Laâge), who comes from a working-class family and die-hard communist parents, has sympathy and decides to help the nun. She goes to the convent and walks into a holy sister about to give birth and needs to operate on her immediately. At this convent, we meet strict Rev. Mother (Agata Kulesza), who strictly gives the order that no one can know they are helping each other. Rev. Mother explains to Mathilde how at the end of World War 2, they were persecuted by the Germans, then the Russians arrived and soviet soldiers raped many of the nuns, it was a nightmare. The convent had been keeping the secret that 7 nuns were pregnant. The reason why neither a Polish or Russian doctor could go to the convent is because it could get shut down and all of them would be evicted. If that occurs the secret will be out and the girls will be shamed and rejected by society

While Mathilde is there she needs to examine and check up on the nuns but some of them are having a hard time. Most of these nuns fear damnation and refuse to get checked up by the nurse because for them it's a sin to show their bodies and get touched. Although they might not admit it, all the nuns are traumatized and live in fear yet, no one seems to care about their psychological trauma, only at the fact that they are pregnant. More so, they are all extremely depressed. Every nun is different, some have been with men before and others are virgins. More so, some have stronger faith than others.

Toward the end, all the nuns start giving birth at the same time, therefore Mathilde brings in an actual Jewish doctor, Samuel Lehmann (Vincent Macaigne), who she works with at the Red Cross. Rev. Mother thinks Mathilda has just bought scandal and disorder to the convent Rev. mother doesn’t let the babies stay, she lies that she has found homes for the newborns but in reality, she leaves them in front of the cross in the woods. She said it was to help the sister not be dishonored but in reality, it was so her convent and herself may not be shamed, she was selfish. Many sisters wanted to keep their babies and rebelled against Rev. Mother. This led to the convent becoming an orphanage to continue to hide the secret. They took in children that lived in the streets as well. They remain extremely thankful for Mathilde and although Mathilde doesn't believe in God, they say that she was “sent by God ''.

In this case, the convent represents religion and God. These nuns devote their lives to God and following his order. They fear going to hell, therefore, strive to be perfect so they may one day meet God in heaven. The nurse, Mathilde, represents the part of society that is atheist, that doesn't believe in God. The reading talks about the idea that if God really does exist, and it's said he wants the good in the world, why do evil things and people still occur and exist? In the movie, some of the nuns even start to question this. A majority of them had a strong and unbreakable faith but after many sisters had gotten raped and pregnant, their faith started to grow weaker and fade. They devoted their entire life to God, always doing the right thing, just for him to let this happen to them? The tragedy that had occurred at the convent, the soviet unions raping the nuns, really put their faith to test. Even though God says raping and abusing someone is morally wrong, he still let it happen, and to the people who believe in him the most. The evil ones were the soldiers, they were just victims. I strongly believe the nuns would have been forgiven by God.

Lastly, the reading discusses the idea of religion and God not having to do much with moral principles. This is given to the fact that being religious or not does not necessarily positively correlate to being moral or immoral. In the movie, we see that Mathilde is the hero and does everything as God says, even though she doesn't even believe in him. She helps and saves people. Due to the tragedy, in some way, she's even more holy than the nuns because she hasn't really committed a “damned” sin. On the other hand, we have Rev. Mother who definitely made the wrong decision in the situation even though she's the holiest person of them all. More so, one of the sisters admits that her faith is not strong at all. She explains how her family forced her to be there and she even has a fiancee. This just comes to prove Cahn’s point, God and religion do not imply moral principles or moral dimensions

In my opinion, we see this divine authority really come into play through the character of Rev. Mother. She is the most strongly devoted to God and has a lot of faith in her religion. Once the tragedy occurs, she has to choose whether to let the secret out or just admit what occurred and live with it. She decides to try to hide everything and not let the newborns stay. Furthermore, she decides to just let the innocent babies die in the wilderness instead of actually finding homes for them. She wanted to follow God's order so bad, to the point where she ended up doing worse. Through that, I can see where she was stuck. It was either keeping the children and letting society know that this convent had “sinned” to the extreme, having sex or, keeping this secret by getting rid of the babies and pretending nothing ever occurred. Personally, I think although God says a nun is not supposed to be touched or show their bodies, in this case, it was not their fault at all. The problem is that the convent could get shut down and all of them would be evicted. If that occurs the secret will be out and the girls will be shamed and rejected by society.

FURTHER RESOURCES:

Review: ‘The Innocents’ strikingly tells of what befell a convent victimized during WWII: This article has a section that briefly explains the divine authority shown in this film. There are many moral issues shown throughout the film, but faith and religion is definitely one of the main ones. This convents faith is put on test, more so, it shows how non-believers aren't bad people. In this case, the non-believers are actually seen as “sent by God” because they saved their lives and changed the sisters mentally for the better. There is definitely a debate between what God says is right and what is morally right to do in the circumstance. This is specifically seen when the convent has to decide what to do with the newborns.

Faith And Fear In A Story Of 'Innocents': This section of the article shows how sometimes religious rules aren't necessarily morally correct. In this case, it's obvious that if a woman is pregnant they need to be checked up, especially if they got raped. Many of these nuns refuse to get checked because God prohibits them to be seen or touched. In society, this is not correct, the pregnant woman needs to be checked in order to make sure everything is under control and that she and the baby are healthy and safe.