I remember the first time I watched The Magdalene Sisters (a movie by Peter Mullan which came out in 2002), It left me in shock. I couldn’t comprehend why religious people were treating young girls the way they did. I wondered why people would make up that kind of stories (I can’t remember how old I was, but I definitely didn’t know that part of British history yet).
Philomena Lee was one of those badly treated girls. When her parents sent her in one of those convents after she got pregnant, her son was taken away and put up for adoption without her consent. Many years later, she reached out to a journalist, Martin Sixsmith, to help her find her long-lost son.
Philomena is a beautiful and heartbreaking movie, which made me think about the consequences that one action can have on your life, and it provides an insight on a part of history that isn’t really known.
First, it’s very well written, but not a surprise since Steve Coogan wrote the screenplay. It’s witty and it’s one of those movies that can make you switch from laughter to tears in an instant. Some moments are comedy gold (especially since Philomena and Sixsmith are completely different from one another) and other moments just crushed my heart. The dialogues convey all the emotions of the story and the depth of those characters.
The acting is impeccable. Judi Dench is magnificent as Philomena: you feel everything for that old lady. She spent a good part of her life going back to the place that took away what she loved the most, and I’m sure it must take a lot of courage, and you can feel that in Dench’s acting. She was the right choice for the part and you truly believe her performance.
Coogan is great as the stuck-up Sixsmith, who throughout the writing of Philomena’s story, discovers that he can help people instead of just being an eternal « I’m better than anyone else » type of person. Even if it sounds a bit lame, I enjoyed seeing him take a stand for her.
Even if that movie gives the audience a sense of accomplishment, since by the end we know the truth and the characters are able to move on with their lives, Philomena leaves a bittersweet taste.
The only thing that was keeping Philomena away from her son were those sisters, who knew everything, but never said anything. She never had the chance to be reunited with her boy, which is horrible, but even after all the evil they did to her, she still takes their defense. That’s why I was so upset when I left the cinema.
I thought about it for a long time after that, and I went online to learn more about her story as well as reading other opinions. I read a lot of critics about the fact that Philomena was anti-catholic.
I do understand why It is thought to be, but it also made me realize that it wasn’t all about an attack on Catholics. Philomena is not a movie that puts Catholics in a bad light, It criticizes an era where in those houses for young girls, that were very close to asylums, sisters and religious figures did horrible things.
However It doesn’t create a generality, it just illustrates a part of history that includes religion. I believe it’s necessary that more movies talk about the most horrific parts of history, in every country. Even if the reality is hard to hear, we owe it to the people who suffered from it, and who still suffers today. Here, for the case of mothers who lost their children just like Philomena.
It is the outsider at this year’s Academy Awards, alongside Nebraska, but I am happy they are nominated (as a matter of fact, when I saw it, the first thing I said when getting out was that Judi Dench needed to be nominated for an Oscar, and I was right). If you haven’t seen it already, I very strongly recommend it!
Rating: 4/5
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