The Magdalene Sisters
Dir: Peter Mullan
2002
*****
2002's The Magdalene Sisters is a harrowing film and so it should be. It's a harrowingly real depiction of real life events, an amazing film but at the same it's hard to really claim to have enjoyed watching. The hardest thing to really grasp is how this ever happened in the first place, especially in the name of goodness, and that the last correctional facility actually only closed in 1996, just 16 years before this film was made. I'm an atheist, quite a staunch one at that but live and let live. I was bought up a catholic and was an alter boy for several years. Our priest was one of the kindest (and funniest) guys I've ever met and it often annoys me when priests are constantly portrayed as either paedophiles or cruel persecutors as I find it to be a bit of an unfair cliche to the many who are guilty of nothing but kindness. However, terrible suffering and cruelty has and still does occur, quite a bit around the world, and it is important that the true stories are told. The Magdalene Sisters tackles the subject quite gracefully, I was so impressed by Peter Mullan's direction of his debut film, 1998's Orphans, and this just cements my views that he is just as good behind the camera as he is in front of it. Eileen Walsh's performance was stand out for me but the whole cast put in strong performances, never once falling short of being utterly compelling. Highly recommended food for thought, tastefully and intelligently handled. My biggest and only gripe was the awful poster that was released in America promoting the film (doe-eyed Eileen Walsh, looking playfully to one side, making the film look like a romantic comedy). For me it was just another example of a long list of films that are marketed by idiots who know nothing about the product.