Irena’s Vow (2023) - A Tribute to Courage and Compassion
The story follows Irena Gut Opdyke, a 19 year old nursing student living in a time when Germany occupied Poland. She and a group of people were taken into custody and assigned to various jobs, Irena was sent to work in a munitions factory where she is put in charge of 12 Jews working as tailors for the factory chiefs. One day she is she overhears that a senior Nazi is telling an officer in charge of the factory that needs to start looking for a replacement of the workers because within a few months there won’t be a Jew left, it really hurt Irena and decided that she needs to do something to help them. She was moved to the house Major Rugemer as the housekeeper and in that place she start working in her plan of rescue the Jewish people of the factory, she hid them in the cellar of the house one night after she put a sleeping pill in the major bedtime milk. She was putting her life in danger but she doesn’t care because more importantly was save the life of others. She start living in constant danger hiding that people in the Major house. Major Rugemer announced one day that he will hire a person to help her but she insisted that she can handle the work in that big house that she doesn’t need anyone. The Major accepted not knowing that she was receiving help of the Jewish that are hidden in the house. Everything was running as plan for Irena but unfortunately one day the Major Rugemer discovers Irena secret and called her traitor, he saw two Jewish woman and wanted to kill them but Irena place between them and the gun of the Major asking him to kill her instead of the other women because they were innocents. At the end the Major forces Irena to share his bed to keep her secret. Irena’s Vow is a true story of a woman that decided not to be only a witness of the atrocities of World War II instead of that decided to be part of the few people that choose the hard path of help the little Jewish community that were being exterminated by the Nazis. She with determination, strength, also fear and scared but with courage risked her own life to keep save 12 Jewish woman and men, who became part of her life, like a little family and that gave the opportunity to feel that life matters and put her life in danger for that was more important that left them die. The audience is going to be part of her journey and continue appreciating the story of true heroes like Irena.
The story of Irena’s Vow is going to tell the journey of her heroism and determination in favor of the survival of other people, her courage to face cruel events and give her own life to save others. The movie was directed by Louise Archambault and the cast led by Sophie Nélisse, both have received acclaimed in this film. Irena’s Vow will premiered on April 15th, in theaters.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19869662/
- Platform: Theaters
- Release: April 15, 2024
Director Louise Archambault: A Master of Narrative Art
Louise Archambault is a Canadian film and television director and screenwriter. The director is best known for her movie Familia, a movie that shows the dynamic of a dysfunctional family and dig into their problems, it was premiered in 2005 and in the same year won the Claude Jutra Award, she also director Gabrielle 2013 movie that won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Picture in 2014 and in 2019 she released the film And the Birds Rained Down an adaptation of Jocelyne Saucier’s novel II Pleuvait Des Oiseaux. In this occasion the director has film her firs movie in English since her previous films were in french. The director with this movie Irena’s Vow set it in a time where Germany occupied Poland and a woman decided to give a step and save as many Jewish as she can being only a nurse. Archambault at the moment she read the script of the movie, she decided that the story must be put at the big screen for the message that it send, a message of courage, determination and love for others. The director also mention that the movie is not only about War War II, it is a story that can be set in the present as well for all the situation of war that are in the world at this moment and showing that could be more Irena’s helping in this moment.
A Story of Resilience and Hope
The true story of Irena Gut Opdyke is told in this movie Irena’s Vow. Irena was a 19 year old Polish woman that live in one of the most horrific moments of history, the Holocaust. She was a catholic person who was assigned to work in the mansion of a Nazi officer. She being a witness of all the atrocities and dehumanization that were put the Jewish community, decided that she can’t just be only an observer and needed to act in favor of that people. Irena with courage embark a journey of altruism and sacrifice hiding and saving the life of dozen Jews by sheltering them in her employer’s house. The determination of Irena, her courage, and vision of save others life was more important to her than any punishment she could receive if she was discovered and for that time the punishment was dead. Irena’s Vow is going to tell her story, a true life story about a woman that decided her life wasn’t more value than other people life.
The story Behind the Creation of Irena’s Vow
In 1975 a middle aged Polish American woman was approached and invited to participate in a public opinion survey. The subject was The Holocaust has actually happened?. For this question Irena Gut Opdyke decided to break silence and tell her experiences during the World War II. She told her story of how he town was occupied by the Nazis, that she spoke German and placed as a housekeeper of a Nazi officer and there she decided to help woman and men that were part of the Jewish community because they would be killed. She told all her story making people really fascinated for her life and changing there thoughts about Holocaust, that in fact it was real. The American screenwriter Dan Gordon heard about her story,met her and used her experiences to create a script that now is adapted in this movie.
This is the story behind the creation of this movie, with a script that fascinated the director Louise Archambault who decided that this story must be put in a big screen and reach as many people as possible. Director need to tell the story of a real life heroine who risked her life to save others.
A Triumph of the Human Spirit
Irena’s Vow is a movie that was shot in 2022 in Warsaw and Lublin in Poland and was premiered in the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2023. The critics for the movie has been positive mention the great performance of actress Sophie Nélisse’s growing as young actress to become a woman with a prominent future in the cinema industry, also was acclaimed the direction of Louise Archambault’s, for its emotional tension and the way of telling a story full of courage and set in a time were people lose hope. The film won the Vancouver International Film Festival an Audience Award and won the Windsor International Film Festival both in 2023.
The Stellar Cast: Bringing Characters to Life
The cast of Irena’s Vow is led by Sophie Nélisse as Irena Gut Opdyke. She is known for her role as Liesel Meminger in the movie The Book Thief 2006 winning a Genie Award and as Caroline in the The Kid Detective 2020. The actress also appeared as a young Shauna in the showtime series Yellowjackets. Dougray Scott is in the role of Nazi officer Eduard Rügemer. Scott is a Scottish actor. The actor is best known for the movies Ever After 1998, Mission Impossible 2 of 2000, Hitman 2007 and won an International Emmy Award for Best Actor for his performance in the Scottish crime drama series Crime of 2021. Andrzej Seweryn take the role of Schultz. Seweryn is a Polish actor and director. Seweryn appeared in over 50 motion pictures most of them Polish, French and German production. He is best known for his role as Julian Scherner in the acclaimed film Schindler’s List. Eliza Rycembel, Maciej Nawrocki, Aleksandar Milicevic, Tomasz Tyndyk and Nela Maciejewska are part of the cast.
Irena’s Vow is a movie that will give the perspective of a person who worked for a Nazi officer but even that it doesn’t afraid her in do something important, save people life. The audience will enjoy a movie with a great direction, great performances and a true story live for a real person, and as it says reality always exceeds the fiction, in this is what happen one more time. Many people will tell another movie about the Holocaust, there are already many of them and that’s true, but is part of our history and all the story haven’t being told yet. This is an opportunity for new generations that doesn’t know about this part of history to met with it and know that a few people take the courage to placed there own life in risk to save others, in this case the Jewish community who suffered many atrocities from the German until it was almost exterminated. Irena was a superhero that decided to take the vow that every life matter, she was a catholic woman who believed that life was important and demonstrated it by keeping save 12 members of the Jewish community in the same house where she was working, the house of a Nazi Major, a risky move but a one that worked. Irena died in 2003 but she left a legacy of humanity, courage, love and strength that will live for ever.
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