The Magdalene Sisters | ||||||
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![]() You can see why the film has created a scandal; it's about a period of time and a social system no one would ever want to acknowledge, rather like Rose's parents refusal to even look at her newborn son (Margaret's "crime" is to have been raped at a family wedding, while Bernadette was just too flirty, so the boys needed protection from her). All of the acting is genuine and transparent, never falling into stereotypes. Mullan films with such artistry and skill that we're almost taken aback when real life horror invades the story. We can barely comprehend the stone-faced, stone-hearted nuns. The irony of the words "God Is Just" aren't lost on us. And perhaps this is a slight problem: While the characters are rounded enough to be real people (no one's perfect, no one's pure evil), the film is quite clearly on the anti-catholic side of things. It vividly shows that the twisted morality of the established Church corrupts innocent minds, like sane people going mad inside an asylum (which we see later, just in case we missed the parallel). But it's the sheer powerlessness of these women in their society that is most frightening. This awful helplessness and manipulation is more shocking, really, than a sex-mad priest or a nun who cruelly beats a girl even though she clearly knows it's the wrong thing to do. The film is forceful, perhaps a bit too tidy, but thoroughly accessible, moving and ultimately devastating stuff.
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dir-scr Peter Mullan with Geraldine McEwan, Anne-Marie Duff, Nora-Jane Noone, Dorothy Duffy, Eileen Walsh, Mary Murray, Britta Smith, Frances Healy, Chris Simpson, Eithne McGuinness, Eamonn Owens, Peter Mullan release UK 21.Feb.03; US 1.Aug.03 Momentum 02/UK 1h59 ![]() Induction. Rose, Bernadette and Margaret are marched into Sister Bridget's office on their first day at the laundry...
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![]() ![]() Leanne Dillon, Dublin:
Caroline Ravenel Wilson-Sabates, Charlotte, North Carolina: | ||||||
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