Gates to Paradise
Encyclopedia
Gates to Paradise is a 1968
film by Polish
director Andrzej Wajda
. The film is set in medieval France
and is based on a story by Polish
writer Jerzy Andrzejewski
(1960) that seeks to expose the motives behind youthful religious zeal. It was entered into the 18th Berlin International Film Festival
.
is launched after Jakob (John Fordyce
) claims to have had a vision in which it is said that the innocence of children would be able to liberate Jerusalem. A monk (Lionel Stander
), returning from Jerusalem, joins the crusade and hears the children's confessions, gradually realizing that most of them are taking part not for religious, but for more worldly reasons, like rejected love.
Both Alexander (Mathieu Carrière
) and Bianca (Pauline Challoner) are in love with Jakob. Alexander, who has learned that his adoptive father (and his lover), Count Ludwig (Ferdy Mayne
), also a crusader, had killed Alexander's Greek
parents, is gleeful that Jakob himself is in love with the Count, whom he had met after the Count and Alexander had split after an argument. This allows Alexander to take revenge for the Count's infidelity by telling his beloved Jakob about the Count's recent demise by drowning in a river, watched by an unmoved Alexander.
Finally, it is revealed in Jakob's confession that Jakob received the inspiration for the crusade not from God but from the Count, which means that the crusade must fail, since it is not by the will of God. However, the monk is unable to stop the children's progression and is left behind.
1968 in film
The year 1968 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 30 - The film The Lion in Winter, starring Katharine Hepburn, debuts.* November 1 - The MPAA's film rating system is introduced.-Top grossing films :- Awards :...
film by Polish
Cinema of Poland
The history of cinema in Poland is almost as long as history of cinematography, and it has universal achievements, even though Polish movies tend to be less commercially available than movies from several other European nations....
director Andrzej Wajda
Andrzej Wajda
Andrzej Wajda is a Polish film director. Recipient of an honorary Oscar, he is possibly the most prominent member of the unofficial "Polish Film School"...
. The film is set in medieval France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and is based on a story by Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
writer Jerzy Andrzejewski
Jerzy Andrzejewski
Jerzy Andrzejewski was a prolific Polish author. His novels, Ashes and Diamonds , and Holy Week , have been made into film adaptations by the Oscar-winning Polish director Andrzej Wajda...
(1960) that seeks to expose the motives behind youthful religious zeal. It was entered into the 18th Berlin International Film Festival
18th Berlin International Film Festival
The 18th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from June 21 to July 2, 1968.-Jury:* Luis García Berlanga * Peter Schamoni* Alex Viany* Georges de Beauregard* Alexander Walker* Domenico Meccoli* Carl-Eric Nordberg...
.
Plot synopsis
In 1212, a Children's CrusadeChildren's Crusade
The Children's Crusade is the name given to a variety of fictional and factual events which happened in 1212 that combine some or all of these elements: visions by a French or German boy; an intention to peacefully convert Muslims in the Holy Land to Christianity; bands of children marching to...
is launched after Jakob (John Fordyce
John Fordyce
John Fordyce was a Church of England priest who was ordained in Pembrokeshire, Wales.Fordyce was posted to St Johns, Newfoundland where he appears to have had a fractious relationship with the residents after an initial warm welcome. In 1735 Fordyce asked for a transfer to South Carolina as a...
) claims to have had a vision in which it is said that the innocence of children would be able to liberate Jerusalem. A monk (Lionel Stander
Lionel Stander
Lionel Jay Stander was an American actor in films, radio, theater and television.-Early life and career:Lionel Stander was born in The Bronx, New York, to Russian Jewish immigrants, the first of three children...
), returning from Jerusalem, joins the crusade and hears the children's confessions, gradually realizing that most of them are taking part not for religious, but for more worldly reasons, like rejected love.
Both Alexander (Mathieu Carrière
Mathieu Carrière
Mathieu Carrière is a German actor.Carrière grew up in Berlin and Lübeck; he attended the Jesuit boarding school Lycée Saint-François-Xavier in Vannes, France, a school which had previously been attended by the director of Carrière's first major film, Volker Schlöndorff. In 1969 Carrière moved to...
) and Bianca (Pauline Challoner) are in love with Jakob. Alexander, who has learned that his adoptive father (and his lover), Count Ludwig (Ferdy Mayne
Ferdy Mayne
-Early life:He was born Ferdinand Philip Mayer-Horckel, in Mainz, Germany. His German father was the Judge of Mayence, and his half-English mother gave singing lessons. Because his family was Jewish, he was sent to England to protect him from the Nazis, and he stayed with his aunt, the photographer...
), also a crusader, had killed Alexander's Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
parents, is gleeful that Jakob himself is in love with the Count, whom he had met after the Count and Alexander had split after an argument. This allows Alexander to take revenge for the Count's infidelity by telling his beloved Jakob about the Count's recent demise by drowning in a river, watched by an unmoved Alexander.
Finally, it is revealed in Jakob's confession that Jakob received the inspiration for the crusade not from God but from the Count, which means that the crusade must fail, since it is not by the will of God. However, the monk is unable to stop the children's progression and is left behind.
Cast
- Lionel StanderLionel StanderLionel Jay Stander was an American actor in films, radio, theater and television.-Early life and career:Lionel Stander was born in The Bronx, New York, to Russian Jewish immigrants, the first of three children...
- Monk - Ferdy MayneFerdy Mayne-Early life:He was born Ferdinand Philip Mayer-Horckel, in Mainz, Germany. His German father was the Judge of Mayence, and his half-English mother gave singing lessons. Because his family was Jewish, he was sent to England to protect him from the Nazis, and he stayed with his aunt, the photographer...
- Count Ludovic de Vendôme - Mathieu CarrièreMathieu CarrièreMathieu Carrière is a German actor.Carrière grew up in Berlin and Lübeck; he attended the Jesuit boarding school Lycée Saint-François-Xavier in Vannes, France, a school which had previously been attended by the director of Carrière's first major film, Volker Schlöndorff. In 1969 Carrière moved to...
- Alexis Melissen - Pauline Challoner - Blanche
- John FordyceJohn FordyceJohn Fordyce was a Church of England priest who was ordained in Pembrokeshire, Wales.Fordyce was posted to St Johns, Newfoundland where he appears to have had a fractious relationship with the residents after an initial warm welcome. In 1735 Fordyce asked for a transfer to South Carolina as a...
- Jacques de Cloyes - Jenny AgutterJenny AgutterJennifer Ann "Jenny" Agutter is an English film and television actress. She began her career as a child actress in the mid 1960s, starring in the BBC television series The Railway Children and the film adaptation of the same book, before moving on to adult roles and relocating to Hollywood.She...
- Maud de Cloyes - Dragomir Felba - Crusader 1
- Denis Gilmore - Robert (as Dennis Gilmore)
- Gojko Kovacevic - Crusader 2
- Ljabomir Radavic - Crusader 3
- Kynaston ReevesKynaston ReevesKynaston Reeves was christened Philip Arthur Reeves, and was an English character actor who appeared in numerous films and many television plays and series.-Career:...
- Superior - Janez VrhovecJanez VrhovecJanez Vrhovec was a Serbian actor. Vrhovec appeared in a number of Yugoslav and Serbian films, as well as many international productions, in a career spanning almost five decades.-Selected filmography:*Perfidy...
- François