The Magdalene Sisters
2002
Peter Mullen's shocking drama THE MAGDALENE SISTERS is based on real events that took place in Ireland from the 1960s until 1996 when an estimated 30,000 young women, considered by their families to have committed sexual sins, were sent away from their homes to earn penitence working in profit-making laundries run by the .. Read more
| Starring | Geraldine McEwan, Nora-Jane Noone, Anne-Marie Duff, Eileen Walsh |
|---|---|
| Director | Peter Mullan |
| Genres | Audio Descriptive, Drama |
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The Magdalene Sisters
Peter Mullen's shocking drama THE MAGDALENE SISTERS is based on real events that took place in Ireland from the 1960s until 1996 when an estimated 30,000 young women, considered by their families to have committed sexual sins, were sent away from their homes to earn penitence working in profit-making laundries run by the Sisters of Magdalene Order. However, the "acts" that lead to the girls miserable imprisonment were clearly not punishable. What's worse, the nuns were cruel money grabbers who worked the girls to the point of exhaustion, and used poor living conditions and psychological abuse to break and brainwash the girls into subservience. The awful treatment the nuns gave these innocent young women was terrifying and utterly disturbing.
Mullen designed the fictional characters in the film based on interviews with actual survivors of the laundries, working their stories into his plot. Margaret (Anne-Marie Duff) is a shy girl who is raped by her cousin at a wedding shaming her family, Patricia/Rose (Dorothy Duff) gets pregnant and her parents take her baby away from her, Bernadette (Nora-Jane Noone) is a pretty girl who is deemed "too flirtatious," and Crispina (Eileen Walsh) is a loving young mum whose children are forbidden to see her and are being raised by her sister. The imposing Sister Bridget (Geraldine McEwan) is pure evil, and will strike fear into the souls of MAGDALENE viewers. This expertly crafted, haunting film, presents Mullen's second feature film, following 1999's ORPHANS.
| Starring | Geraldine McEwan, Nora-Jane Noone, Anne-Marie Duff, Eileen Walsh, Dorothy Duffy, Mary Murray, Francis Healy, Eithne McGuinness |
|---|---|
| Director | Peter Mullan |
| Studio | MOMENTUM PICTURES |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 58 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Audio Descriptive, Drama |
| Language | English, English Audio Description |
| Hearing-impaired | English |
| Released | DVD: 01 Sep 2003 Production year: 2002 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (3)
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Religious repression and moral hypocrisy are targeted by writer/director Peter Mullan in this bitter indictment of the Magdalene Asylums — convent laundries that were run like workhouses — in to which “fallen women” were forced in order to cleanse their “sins”. Following three wayward teenagers sent to one such asylum in the 1960s, Mullan's fictionalised version of actual events keeps soapy sentimentalism at bay, thanks mainly to the compelling performances of a young cast of unknowns — Eileen Walsh is especially outstanding as the tragic Crispina. Geraldine McEwan is frighteningly good as the bullying Mother Superior, hoarding money from the sanctified exploitation of the girls, beating them out of spite and turning a blind eye to their sexual abuse at the hands of the priests. Often uncomfortable to watch, Mullan's controversial chronicle is not without flaws in its credibility, but these are compensated for by his sincere intentions and moving depiction of lost souls, so stripped of their dignity that they view this living hell as their only refuge.
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Fiercely angry film, based on true stories, that takes the lives of three women as representative of the many thousands who suffered. It is a powerful polemic, well acted and with moments of black humour among the futility and waste of lives.
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Most helpful member's review
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50 out of 51 people found this review helpful
Disturbing true story of catholic hypocracy and bigotry
For me the most disturbing message from this film was that the last of these intitutions was closed as recently as 1996.
The film is a damning account of how women were (are?) regarded within the Catholic faith in Ireland, by Priests and Nun's whose daily prayers were of love and forgiveness, but whose hearts were cold and cruel and activities greedy and evil.
Your blood will run cold at the influence they had on the families of too many innocent women and girls.
The fact that this has occurred in recent times suggests that there must still be many emotionally crippled Irish women who have been permenantly scarred by this barbaric regime. The consequences for these women and those around them isn't too difficult to imagine.
This a poweful and must-see film, despite it's depressing story. -
Most recent members' review
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
ONE DIMENSIONAL REVIEWS DO THIS FILM NO JUSTICE
This film is captivating. It definitely deserved all the nominations and rewards it received. The acting performances are spot on but, without a doubt, Eileen Walsh and Geraldine McEwan steal the show.
Anyone who thinks The Magdalene Sisters is a documentary in which the entire Catholic Church is condemned as wicked has totally missed the point of the film. Peter Mullan directed something more intelligent. The religious context is relevant but this isn’t an All-Catholics-Are-Evil film. The movie illustrates the action, inaction, endurance and limits of individual human beings who are comforted and/or oppressed by a common religion. We are shown their ability to justify choices using widely practiced social rules and to absolve themselves through manipulation of dogma.
I was glad the makers resisted the temptation to create charicatured ‘non-religious goodies’ and ‘religious baddies’. It would have been all too simple to show the nuns as psychopathic tyrants and the inmates as inhumanly divine. Instead, we are shown the damage caused by ignorance and how abuse breeds abuse. We witness the complacency which infects a society in which abuse is widespread and validated by powerful and respected institutions (and not just religious institutions).
The slightly disappointing result of many films of this nature is that many viewers place themselves comfortably on the side of righteousness rather than examining how they might be guilty of some of the unsavoury behaviour they are watching – whether that be because of their religion, race or other, more subtle motives. The world didn’t rid itself of abuse when the last Magdalene laundry closed and Catholicism certainly doesn't hold the monopoly. From what I've heard and read I think that message was lost on some viewers.
I hope The Magdalene Sisters is more than a matinee tear-jerker in which everything turns out alright in the end and which makes you tingle with piety. It should be challenging to watch whether you be an abuse victim, abuser, nun, Catholic or none/several of the above. A movie for film enthusiasts, not for popcorn flickers. -
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Peter Mullen's shocking drama THE MAGDALENE SISTERS is based on real events that took place in Ireland from the 1960s until 1996 when an estimated 30,000 young women, considered by their families to ... -