Innocence (2004)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Elvira B

  
  Innocence takes place in a mysterious boarding school by a lake, immersed in a haunting, lush forest. Inside, the girls receive biology and dance lessons, swim, and play. They have no idea why they've been sent there, and have no idea when they will be leaving. Mademoiselle Edith… More
  Innocence takes place in a mysterious boarding school by a lake, immersed in a haunting, lush forest. Inside, the girls receive biology and dance lessons, swim, and play. They have no idea why they've been sent there, and have no idea when they will be leaving. Mademoiselle Edith and Mademoiselle Eva (Marion Cotillard) are in charge. With subtlety, in this blurry and dark environment, they teach the girls about life and music, perparing them for the reality of the outside world. Iris, Alice, and Bianca are the protagonists of this story (all excellent actresses), young girls surviving the long rite of passage that is their stay in the institute. Iris, the newcomer, adapts to the mysterious system of the school, and gets used to the idea that she may not be going out in a very long time. Alice struggles to become the best dancer in her class in order to be chosen by the headmistress, and be able to leave the Institute earlier. Bianca is on her final year, readying to leave the fairy-tale woods and return to the "real" world she's probably forgotten. The beauty of Innocence is that we as spectators realize that this is just a school! Nothing abnormal is going on, the girls are not being mistreated or abused; in fact, they live in an idyllic place with all commodities at their disposal. Therefore, why are the girls so afraid of it, why does verything seem so mysterious and forbidding? Lucile Hadzihalilovic tries to take us back to the time when we used to be amazed at everything, when all things were new to us, when there was still an element of magic or surprise to life. The truth is that this is a school that prepares potential ballerinas, but to the students it is the entire world, and so everything inside it has a special, larger-than-life significance. The film is meandering, contemplative, and above all intimate. The cinematography is breathtaking, and the slow pace of the plot is absolutely hypnotizing. In a way, there are many "clues" and symbols throughout the film, but it would be useless to try to explain them now: Innocence is very open to interpretation, and the waters definitely run deeper than what I was able to explain. The film is difficult to categorize, but there is some terror to it: the woods, so still and yet so overflowing with movement and hidden life, are metaphors of what the students are going through... that terrifying, confusing time when "girls become women", to say it lightly, that sort of "being on the edge" of full metamorphoses, something unknown (and therefore menacing) happening inside that can't be identified from outside. Hadzihalilovic is a brilliant symbolist. Her film plays like a poem, and it's full of images of gushing water and stillness and movement in nature. She closes the movie with one of the most intelligent and sensible scenes I have ever seen, in which everything has an implicit meaning, with bubbling water, laughter, and a not-so-little girl having the first taste of freedom, taking a vague first look at what the future has in store, at what she has been so thoroughly prepared for as far as her memory can go.

• Luke B

  
  In terms of style and execution this film is a rare delight. Hadzihalilovic creates such an intense and sinister atmosphere without the film ever being intense or sinister. It is in fact the film's almost naive innocence that plays with the viewers preconceptions forcing us to… More
  In terms of style and execution this film is a rare delight. Hadzihalilovic creates such an intense and sinister atmosphere without the film ever being intense or sinister. It is in fact the film's almost naive innocence that plays with the viewers preconceptions forcing us to confront a society of young girls hurtling towards adolescence. The film never even considers answering all our questions, but rather offers us visual stimuli to come to our own conclusions. Rather daring without ever being shocking this is a film of true art with similarities to The Wicker Man and Picnic at Hanging Rock. The child actors are incredible and capture the confusion and joy of being so young. Hypnotic and dreamlike this is a film to sit down and watch, making sure one gives it their undivided attention.

• Stephen M

  
  This has to be one of the most intensely boring films I've ever seen. That said, it is oddly compulsive viewing. A metaphor equating the passage from innocence to sexual maturity with the life cycle of the butterfly, the film is, unfortunately, not quite as magical as it should… More
  This has to be one of the most intensely boring films I've ever seen. That said, it is oddly compulsive viewing. A metaphor equating the passage from innocence to sexual maturity with the life cycle of the butterfly, the film is, unfortunately, not quite as magical as it should be. Certain moments are stunning though, not least the fountain scene at the very end.

• Kylie B

  
  Visually this film is stunning, and the woodland shots are very creepily done. However this film's narrative is very slow, making it perhaps better for study or 'serious viewing' than as a way to while away a few hours. I would also reccommend watching it alone where… More
  Visually this film is stunning, and the woodland shots are very creepily done. However this film's narrative is very slow, making it perhaps better for study or 'serious viewing' than as a way to while away a few hours. I would also reccommend watching it alone where possible, as you may well be tempted to talk over it if there are others there (I watched it with a friend who also really wanted to see it, and yet that happened to us).

• Antony S

  
  Very difficult to get a handle on. Innocence is an intimate French drama concerning the endangerment of children at a young girl's boarding school. Various rules are in force, heighteneing the sense of preciousness in the pre-teens' lives. Marion Cotillard is the only… More
  Very difficult to get a handle on. Innocence is an intimate French drama concerning the endangerment of children at a young girl's boarding school. Various rules are in force, heighteneing the sense of preciousness in the pre-teens' lives. Marion Cotillard is the only 'name' actress, having a small part as their soft-touch ballet teacher, working in opposition to the more matriarchal head of the house. Though there is visual style to burn, many of the images simply make little sense, and thus the threat (the crux of the story) is diminished by only existing in an absurdist fashion. For example, the girls are brought in individually in adult-sized coffins. This makes for some gorgeous cinematography, but also an empty metaphor. Later there is a scene punctuated by extreme close-ups of a girl playing enthusiastically on a swing. As predicted, she falls off, and the others rally round, but she seems to be a-OK. Move to the next scene. The only time said Innocence seems to be really threatened is in the film's final scene, where the (near-teenage) students play in a water fountain with various older boys, an adept depiction of young libido. Overall, pretty but perhaps a little hollow.

• Mark A

  
  Haunting would be a good word to describe this film, written and directed by Lucile Hadzihalilovic, and based on a short story by Frank Wedekind. If it's answers you want, this is not your film. But, if you enjoy pondering the questions, plop yourself down and give this one a… More
  Haunting would be a good word to describe this film, written and directed by Lucile Hadzihalilovic, and based on a short story by Frank Wedekind. If it's answers you want, this is not your film. But, if you enjoy pondering the questions, plop yourself down and give this one a watch. A group of young girls are sequestered in a strange, isolated boarding school where they are instructed in dance and science and generally left to amuse themselves. There is a definite air of mystery that pervades, and the filmmaker does little to alleviate a sense of dread that one feels as one watches this. Is there something nefarious going on behind the scenes? Are these girls being cultivated for some white slaver scenario? Or is everything as idyllic as it seems on the surface. Marion Cotillard and Helene de Fougerolles play the enigmatic teachers, but it is a bevy of young child actors that make this the fascinating watch that it is. Of particular interest were Zoe Auclair, as the newcomer, Iris; Lea Bridarolli, as the rebel, Alice; and Berangere Haubruge, as the eldest, Bianca. The major action, such as it is, revolves around these three characters and their interactions with each other and with the rest of the girls. Filmed on location, using available light, the film is saturated with vivid colors that pop on the screen against the white uniforms that the girls wear. The soundtrack makes extensive use of ambient sounds, evoking the natural world, with occasional bits of classical recordings during the dance scenes. Watching the interviews with the director afterward, one finds that the film was purposely ambiguous. We are not meant to be able to "figure it out". But it certainly does challenge one's thinking and may even reveal flaws in one's own character, as one tries to fill in the intentional blanks. In French, with English subtitles.

• Walter M

  
  [font=Century Gothic]"Innocence" starts with a group of girls letting Iris(Zoe Auclair) out of a coffin. Any movie that starts off with its strangest moment is going to be at an advantage and this movie about a girls school in the middle of a forest is no… More
  [font=Century Gothic]"Innocence" starts with a group of girls letting Iris(Zoe Auclair) out of a coffin. Any movie that starts off with its strangest moment is going to be at an advantage and this movie about a girls school in the middle of a forest is no exception.(Reversing "The Day I Became a Woman," there are no boys to be seen. Maybe they are on the other side of the wall?) Each of the girls is assigned a different colored ribbon depending on age. Iris, the youngest, gets a red ribbon while Bianca(Berangere Haubruge), the oldest, gets a violet ribbon and is about to move on. Possessing a blue ribbon, Alice(Lea Bridarolli) is impatient to get out of there and hopes to impress the headmistress(Corinne Marchand) when she pays her annual visit with what she learns in dance class taught by Mademoiselle Eva(Marion Cotillard). The only other class is taught by Mademoiselle Edith(Helene de Fougerolles) who instructs the girls on butterflies and menstruation. What gives the movie a decided creepiness is the combination of dancing and butterflies, as the girls are starting to be watched as they emerge into womanhood.[/font]

• Dimitris S

  
  A stroll in the woods.Alternative title: how to face your demons,obey the unknown rules and express your gratitude by shutting up your pre-teen smile.Sorry,did I say shut up?To think it's a creepy achievement of elaborate shots and mysterioso atmosphere would be little.Arguably,a… More
  A stroll in the woods.Alternative title: how to face your demons,obey the unknown rules and express your gratitude by shutting up your pre-teen smile.Sorry,did I say shut up?To think it's a creepy achievement of elaborate shots and mysterioso atmosphere would be little.Arguably,a controversial subject carefully placed and a cathartic finale.

• Stefan P

  
  The use of subtle clues, metaphors and photography as the main story teller makes "Innocence" a confusing and often frustrating experience, where much is left for viewer interpretation. However, Hadzihalilovic manages to create a pretty intense and ominous atmosphere, with… More
  The use of subtle clues, metaphors and photography as the main story teller makes "Innocence" a confusing and often frustrating experience, where much is left for viewer interpretation. However, Hadzihalilovic manages to create a pretty intense and ominous atmosphere, with help from talented child actresses and a beautiful imagery. If I had watched it when I was in a thinking-mood I would probably found it more engaging, but since I were unable to enjoy this film my grade stays low.

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