Irena's Vow

Irena is a Polish woman caught in the early stages of Nazi occupation, enlisted to work for the new regime, who after witness to the horrors unleashed against the local Jews, decides to do everything in her power to save the victims. That is her vow. And this is her astounding true story.

Presented more as a theatre piece than movie, "Irena's Vow" seldom moves outdoors, save for a few market square scenes, focusing mainly on interiors, where Irena keeps mansion for a high ranking officer, and keeps a group of Jews hidden in the cellar.

The grit, grime and scuffy realities of war are absent here, as everything focuses on the characters and the carefully orchestrated set pieces. The clean and simple play presentation makes for a distancing film experience, which slowly dissolves as the story picks up the pace. And the story is the star here.

Scrambling to avoid detection under the enemy's roof, Irena shows cool resolve, clever problem solves, and total dedication to her cause. The surface sheen of the movie which never digs far enough to get a good grip on the characters, is finally broken with the post film credits, that feature photos and historic summaries of the aftermath. Then it finally hits home.

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Following the success of The Book Thief and Yellowjackets, Sophie Nélisse stars in this powerful and sensitive story based on real events. She plays a young Polish woman, Irena Gut Opdyke (Sophie Nélisse), who during the Second World War, hid a group of Jews in the house of her boss: a high-ranking Nazi commander (Dougray Scott) . Through the eyes of a strong-willed woman comes the remarkable story of Irena Gut, and the triumphs of the human spirit over devastating tragedy, as she risked her life to save a generation of Jews from the atrocities of the Holocaust. Who would look for a group of Jews in a Nazi's house?

Irena's Vow(2023) is a biographic film about Irene Gut Opdyke (1918 - 2003) who was a Polish nurse who gained international recognition for aiding Polish Jews persecuted by Nazi Germany during World War II. She was honored as a Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem for risking her life to save twelve Jews.she enrolled at the nursing school before the Nazi-Soviet invasion of 1939. While hiding during the invasion, Russian soldiers discovered her and she was beaten and raped. Originally forced to work in a munitions factory during the German occupation, Gut was hired by Wehrmacht Major Eduard Rügemer to work in a kitchen of a hotel that frequently served Nazi officials when he learned she was fluent in German. The film, which premiered at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival, delves into Irene's anguish and fear, her relationship with the commander, as well as the young woman's own will to carry out this heroic act and save the unfortunate people who were relentlessly persecuted. A story of survival and resilience that also spoke of friendship and how, despite the harshness and isolation of life , a good girl helps unfortunate and pursued people at whatever cost. Stories of war survival, particularly the Holocaust, are almost always harrowing and moving, as they require significant effort to faithfully convey the sufferings of Jews who are continually harassed, either in concentration camps or in the dangerous escapes they often made. Those who managed to survive did not remain unscathed, suffering many psychological traumas, often suffering many family losses or personal torture. However, some managed to live to tell their story, which they share with the world to recognize those who disappeared, as well as those who helped them stay alive. Allies and sympathizers also took great risks, resulting in a variety of reasons why they might have refused to be willing to help a Jew hiding from the Nazis.

There is decent photography by cameraman Paul Sarossy, and taking place in war-torn Eastern Europe, the film was shot on ___location in Konstancin-Jeziorna, Mazowieckie, Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Lublin, Lubelskie, and Modlin, Mazowieckie, Poland. There are no major special effects or war scenes, as it is a story that takes place far from the front, although the Jews do eventually find themselves hunted by greedy Polish bounty hunters who have been promised lavish rewards by the Nazis. But ultimately this is still a story of survival that runs from the beginning of the film to the end. It is also an English-language film, a Canadian/Polish coproduction in origin, despite taking place in occupied Poland, which should make it more accessible to a wider audience.

The motion picture was well directed by Louise Archambault. It will be released in April 2024 and it premiered at TIFF and won an Audience Award at VIFF and WIFF. In 2019, Louise released the feature films, Il pleuvait des oiseaux (And the Birds Rained Down), which won awards such as Best Feature at the Göteborg Film Festival and the comedy Merci pour tout (Thanks for everything). These films ranked 2nd and 3rd position in Canada's box office. Her recent feature Le temps d'un été (One Summer) was released in July 2023 and ranked top 1 Canadian film at the box office, the best Canadian BO since 2019. Rating: 6.5/10.

Greetings again from the darkness. This is based on the true story of Irena Gut Opdyke who, during WWII, vowed "If I could save a life, I would." Directed by Louise Archambault, it has been adapted for the screen by Dan Gordon, who was the playwright for the hit Broadway play. Cinema has been utilized many times over the years to shine a light on so many who acted altruistically in protecting Jews from the Nazis. Some of these heroes saved one life, while others saved hundreds. The courage of these folks deserves to be remembered.

The film begins in 1939 as Germany invades Warsaw. A bomb drops on the hospital where Irena (Sophie Nelisse) is working. She is Polish, not Jewish, so she is sent to work in a munitions factory. Her features get her recognized by senior German officer Rugmer (Dougray Scott, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN, 2011) who reassigns her to a supervisory role over Jews working in a hotel laundry. When Rugmer reassigns her again, this time to his personal villa as housekeeper, she learns the Jews in the laundry will be sent to a concentration camp.

We are fascinated by Irena's work to rescue and then hide these twelve people ... and she does so literally under the feet of Rugmer. Obviously, this puts herself and the hidden Jews in danger, but also Rugmer, who would surely be shot were they discovered in his home. Humor is scarce here. In fact, one of the most horrific scenes you'll ever view in a movie occurs. It's a devastating moment and one that won't soon be exorcised from my mind. In a rare display of levity, Irena befriends an elderly servant named Schultz (Andrzej Seweryn, SCHINDLER'S LIST, 1993) whose advice to her is to keep a low profile and 'know nothing'. Fans of the old "Hogan's Heroes" series will appreciate the connection.

The current issue of antisemitism gives this one a bit of contemporary feel, as does the abortion discussion amongst those hiding. At first, we can't help but wonder if this was for dramatic effect, although the answer becomes quite clear over the end credits. Sophie Nelisse was exceptional in THE BOOK THIEF, and she is terrific here as well, playing Irena Gut Opdyke who much later in life was honored with Righteous Among the Nations ... after being imprisoned for supporting Nazis. The epilogue spells out much of what happened, and all of it leaves us with the utmost respect for this quietly courageous woman.

A Fathom Events presentation on April 15 and April 16, 2024.

"Irena's Vow" tells the story of a courageous Polish girl, Irena Gut Opdyke, who gets caught in a street roundup to be used as a laborer for the Nazis, who have taken over Poland. Irena, through her cunning and beauty, ends up as a housekeeper for an SS officer at a new villa, which was previously owned by a Jewish family. Through her humanity and cunning ways, Irena is able to rescue and house 11 Jewish workers from her previous place of work and transport them to the new Villa, where she hides them in the cellar and then another secret room, all under the roof of the SS Officer. To reveal any more would be considered a spoiler. I found this production very well acted and directed and ___location shots in Poland were very effective. The film lacked the emotional punch of a "Schindler's List" or "One Life", but the film is worth seeing and learning about another heroic person who endangered their own life to help Jewish victims from the death camps. For this, Irena was given the title of Righteous One in Israel, for saving Jewish lives.

I've seen a lot of WW II movies. I've never seen one quite like this. "Irena's Vow" is the story of a real person, Irena Gut, a teenager when WW II began. She was a virgin, from a loving, well to do family. The war began, and she was gang raped, beaten, and left for dead by Red Army soldiers, famous for their rapes across Europe.

Nazis murdered her father. Her family split up She was alone and desperate. She never gave in to self pity, but dedicated herself to saving Jews from extermination. Her self sacrifice, her courage, and her ingenuity put the rest of us to shame. Holy Cow, what a woman.

Sophie Nelisse is almost supernatural in her ability to inhabit the young Irena Gut -- the real Irena's daughter said as much. Nelisse has said that she is not a Method actor, and she was able to shake off the difficulties of the part as soon as she heard "Cut." That's amazing.

I strongly recommend this film. Again, I can't thnk of anything else quite like it.