Irena’s Vow is about a minor episode from World War II where someone courageously hid Jews away from Nazis. Stories like this are almost as old as films about the war itself, and yet this film is involving because director Louise Archambault sees the natural suspense within her premise. Parts of the film unfold like a thriller, with characters making split-second decisions in order to preserve subterfuge and protect their skins. Beyond that drama, however, is something more intriguing. All the major characters, even a Nazi officer, find themselves paralyzed by an impossible situation, and there is a bracing clarity to how they evaluate their choices. Nothing here is terribly new or controversial, to the point where Irena’s Vow might be shown in high school history classes, and yet it is so well-executed that it does not matter.
Sophie Nélisse, who you may recognize from the Showtime series Yellowjackets, plays Irena Gut, a Polish nurse that just tries to keep her head down when the Nazis invade. But then she bears witness to a horrible atrocity – the senseless Nazi killing of an infant on the street – and decides she cannot be a bystander. After being conscripted into working at the home of Rugmer (Dougray Scott), a Nazi officer, she sees an opportunity to save some Jews who would otherwise be exterminated. Eleven young men and women work in Rugmer’s basement as tailors, at least until high command decides to round up the remaining Jewish population, so Irena hides them as best she can. Her plan is audacious and risky: when Rugmer commandeers a villa and hires Irena as his housekeeper, she secretly moves her new friends into its basement, thereby keeping Jews hidden literally right under a Nazi’s feet. The rest of the film involves Irena in situations where Nazis nearly figure out her secret, and how she improvises her way out of them.
The screenplay by Dan Gordon is based on his Broadway play of the same name, and it is to the film’s credit that we cannot see how it would all work in a stage setting. There are too many moving parts, with Archambault juggling it all in a coherent way, so that razor sharp cutting seems like the only way to find drama in the story. Obvious complications arise, like when one of the Jews develops a nagging cough, or when Rugmer grows suspicious once Irena is too good at her job (the Jews help prepare a lavish dinner in the villa). Beyond that, however, are some dialogue-driven scenes that depict brutality simply by going beyond morality to discuss personal issues in practical terms. We learn one of the people hiding is pregnant, and they matter-of-factly discuss why terminating the pregnancy is the only real option. In another scene, Irena panics when she receives a blackmail letter, and one of the Jews has an ingenious solution to that threat. Nélisse’s performance is necessarily full of understatement, and she imbues it with quiet conviction that makes her a sympathetic hero. Not only is her cause righteous, she is likable and plucky so that we want her to succeed.
For a while, the contours of Irena’s Vow are easy to predict. It has an episodic structure, with Irena solving one calamity after another, and then the third act pulls the proverbial rug. Left with no other option, Irena finds herself in a situation where she must compromise herself in ways that she never could have predicted. This section would be implausible, except this is based on a true story and is a simulacrum of how the war really went down for her. If Nélisse is the star up to this point, then the final stretches are where Scott has opportunity to reveal depths of his character. Yes, Rugmer is a hateful Nazi, but he also possesses human qualities like pity and lust. These qualities curdle into an utter mess of a man, and yet there are accidental virtues buried among his faults. Archambault concludes her film with title cards explaining the fate of Irena and key players from the story, a kind of conceit that can be maudlin when handled poorly. In this particular film, it proves necessary because what happens is almost too much to believe. Then again, war and pogroms put absurd pressure on those involved with them – not just the victims, but also the perpetrators – and the way ordinary people react may even surprise themselves.
Photo courtesy of Fathom Events
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