Gates to Paradise is a 1968 film by Polish director Andrzej Wajda. The film is set in medieval France and is based on a novel 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.^[1]

Plot

In 1212, a Children's Crusade is launched after Jakob claims to have had a vision in which it is said that the innocence of children would be able to liberate Jerusalem. A monk, 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.^[2]

Both Alexander and Bianca are in love with Jakob. Alexander, who has learned that his adoptive father (and his lover), Count Ludwig, also a crusader, had killed Alexander's Greek parents, is gleeful that Jakob 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 because 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 Stander – Monk
• Ferdy Mayne – Count Ludovic de Vendôme
• Mathieu Carrière – Alexis Melissen
• Pauline Challoner – Blanche
• John Fordyce – Jacques de Cloyes
• Jenny Agutter – Maud de Cloyes
• Dragomir Felba – Crusader 1
• Denis Gilmore – Robert (as Dennis Gilmore)
• Gojko Kovačević – Crusader 2
• Ljabomir Radavic – Crusader 3
• Kynaston Reeves – Superior
• Janez Vrhovec – François