Irena's Vow

"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.

Irena's Vow

Other than beating the tar out of Nazis, the other kind of WWII movies I enjoy are the ones that feature the unsung heroes that were able to rescue small groups of Jewish people. Irena's Vow features Irena Gut, a Polish woman forced into service by the occupying Germans in the city of Tarnopol (now in the Ukraine as Ternopol).

While working for Major Rügemer, she is assigned to supervise the laundry, and then as the housekeeper for his villa, seized from a Polish family. When she saw that all the people in the laundry were to be executed as part of Hitler's plan, she schemes to hide them in the very house that the Major now occupies.

If this wasn't a true story, I wouldn't have believed a word of this. It was so poorly acted, I felt like I was watching a modern film with costumes, instead of a film to transport us back in time to the mad era of Nazi insanity.

It becomes quite clear, sort of, early on that Rügemer has a thing for Irena, but it catapults forward when he discovers that there are Jews hiding in his home. The speed and transformation of superior to inferior to Polish lover was so fast, it just didn't make sense in the narrative.

Sophie Nélisse, as Irena, did a great job of emoting the compassion, the panic, the fear, the horror and the bravery all needed to survive. After witnessing a child get murdered on the street by yet another disgraceful "German", she really dove into her risky plan to save as many Jews as she could.

I wanted to love this due to the bravery in the depths of despair, but it wasn't completely well done. I don't know, nor can I put my finger on it, but I felt it could have been done better. I'm just glad it really happened and the people went on to live full lives. The notes in the credits were really sweet.

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.

I have always been a huge supporter and sympathizer of oppressed people all over the world. I will never understand any person's intense hatred and extreme obsession to hurt another based solely on one's race. Thankfully, on the flip side of this evil, we are also inspired by decent people who have displayed heroic acts of courage, morals and good conscience to protect victims in these horrific circumstances. I was immediately drawn into this movie and captivated until the credits rolled by. Sophie Nelisse and the entire cast deliver phenomenal performances. This movie is fraught with drama and suspense and I can't recommend it highly enough!

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.

• hipCRANK.