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.
Neds
Dir: Peter Mullan
2011
*****
Peter Mullan does Ken Loach with a hint of directional influence from Kubrick and Peckinpah. Sounds good doesn't it, well luckily it is. Nick Love and the people responsible for the Kidulthood films and their ilk please take note, I would even suggest that this is better than Made in England in many respects. It is bound to resemble Made in England/Made in Britain/Scum among others but it seems a little less affectionate, less attached. Don't get me wrong, Scum isn't a love story but the phrase 'I'm the daddy now' has been uttered more than once since its release. At times, I was reminded more of films such as Taxi Driver and Kes, but I digress. Mullan really does show the pointlessness and also the repetitive cycle of violence between estates and he does so in his own no nonsense style, and yet, he also goes completely nuts with it too. At times you wonder if you're watching the same film as it gets pretty surreal at times but it is all the better for it. I thought the end scene was awesome, a perfect finish to a wayward journey, totally original but with rich influence, please don't leave it so long between films Mr. Mullan!
Orphans
Dir: Peter Mullan
1998
*****
When Orphans came out in 1998 I remember telling people that the then less well known actor Peter Mullan was just as good behind the camera as he was in front of it. Most people only knew him from his small role in Trainspotting but I'd recently seen him in the amazing My Name Is Joe and really enjoyed his performances in Riff-Raff, Shallow Grave and various TV programs. He's gone on to direct a couple more films, both of them brilliant and he's become a house-hold name as both director and actor. It's easy to see how Orphans spring-boarded him somewhat. It is black comedy at it's finest. Four very different siblings deal with the death of their Mother in various different mad-cap ways, the results being touching, emotional and hilarious. The scene whereby Son Thomas (played by the brilliant and underrated Gary Lewis) insists on carrying his Mother's coffin single-handed out of bloody-minded martyrdom is both tragic, sad but irresistibly funny and sets the tone perfectly.
