The Magdalene Sisters Movie Review:


Ever since cinema first began the Roman Catholic Church has played a leading role in dictating what we see, don't see and shouldn't see on the big screen. There have been various denunciations of films from the Vatican and even lists of condemned films have been put up in churches throughout the world.

Unsurprisingly both the Roman Catholic Church and the US Catholic League denounced The Magdalene Sisters after it won the Golden Lion award in Venice last year, accusing its director, Peter Mullan of using anti-Catholic propaganda to make a sensationalist account of what happened in the Magdalene Laundries.

The Magdalene Laundries were institutions run and maintained by the Catholic Church in Ireland for the detention of young women thought to be a moral danger to themselves and others. The laundries existed until the 1970s but the last did not close until 1996.

Although the films three main characters are loosely based on the accounts of former 'inmates' of a laundry near Dublin, the majority of the film is indeed factual and no one can ignore the terrible injustice the Magdalene Laundries represented.

Peter Mullan, in his second actor-cum-director-writer venture, brings us the story of three young women who all arrive at a Magdalene Laundry on the same day. Margaret (Anne-Marie Duff) makes a complaint against her cousin who rapped her at a wedding reception, only to be banished from her home and sent by her parents to the 'sisters of mercy' at the nearest laundry. Rose (Dorothy Duffy) has given birth out of wedlock to her family's disgusted shame and is also sent to the laundry by her parents. And finally there is Bernadette (Nora-Jane Noone) whose only crime is being a free-spirited, pretty young women who flirts with the boys at the near-by school, she is sent to the laundry by the orphanage she lives at.

What presides in the laundry soon becomes apparent. Sister Bridget (a superb and chilling performance from Geraldine McEwan) begins by verbally humiliating all three girls by telling them why they are under her care. When it's Bernadette turn Sister Bridget asks if she has 'been' with any boys, Bernadette replies with an resounding "No", but Sister Bridget looks up to her from her desk and with a tight grin says "But you would like to, wouldn't you?"

The girls are treated like convicts. They are given drab uniforms to wear; they sleep in the attic in cramped conditions and are forced to work for no rewards, privileges or pay. They are emotionally and physically abused by the nuns, in one scene after Bernadette tries to escape, Sister Bridget beats her and then shaves her hair completely off. Bernadette, the proudest and most resilient of the three girls retains a sense of rebelliousness, but at the price of becoming hardened and malicious herself.

Perhaps one of the most memorable and horrific scenes in the film is when Margaret takes her revenge on a priest for abusing another girl, the simple-minded Crispina (sensitively played by Eileen Walsh). She puts a poisonous plant in his washing and then at an out door service in front of a large congregation, including people from the near-by village, he strips his clothes off in agony, screaming across a field. Crispina is left pointing and shouting at the priest "You are not a man of God" over and over again. Mullan shows guts and nerve to leave his actress shouting this alone for over 30 seconds, whilst the camera focuses on the nun's shocked and horrified faces. Crispina is later sent to a mental institution and we learn just before the closing credits that she died aged 24.

Peter Mullan, was raised a Catholic in Glasgow, and made a striking directional debut a couple of years ago with Orphans, the tale of a rather dysfunctional Catholic family living in working-class Glasgow. He is probably however most well known for his lead role in Ken Loach's My Name is Joe and several other small roles, including one in Braveheart.

Mullan's work in front of the camera has definitely enabled him to get the best out of The Magdalene Sisters largely inexperienced cast. He uses the camera sensitively, in one scene the girls are made to parade naked whilst the nuns discuss which girl has the largest breasts, the camera never focuses on the girls bodies but instead on their ridiculed faces and on the nuns, who stand giggling and pointing.

The film is undoubtedly an attack on the Magdalene Laundries and any similar system run by a religious order that forces oppression on its 'inmates'. It comes at a time when we are increasingly questioning the security and maintenance of the institutions around us and brings to light that religion and power don't always mix.

Mullan has got fine, honest performances from his cast, with an exceptional portrayal of Sister Bridget from Geraldine McEwan. He has without a doubt grounded himself as one of Britain's talented filmmakers, winning two Bafta nominations and immense critical acclaim. Be sure to keep an eye out for future projects.

Report Card Grade - A

Emma Bowtell

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