Review of The Magdalene Sisters (2002) by Alison O — 28 Apr 2005

Best in Show: Anne-Marie Duff.

One for the future: Dorothy Duffy.

Stand-out scene: "You're not a man of God!".

Brainer or no-brainer: Brainer.

Stands up to one viewing or repeated?: Repeated.

DVD commentary any good?: With director Peter Mullan - excellent down to the added sound effects of him chain-smoking.

DVD.

Multi hyphenate actor-director-writer Peter Mullan was excellent as the lead actor in My Name is Joe and his full length debut, Orphans, marked him out as a director to watch. This, his second helmer, sees the action transplanted to Ireland but it is no less gritty and realistic. Inspired by a documentary he saw on Channel 4 about the Magdelene Sisters laundries, this is a moving and shocking portrayal of the experiences of three new admissions. The first has been raped, the second has had a baby out of wedlock and the third is an orphan who is condemned to a life of servitude solely on the grounds that she is attractive. The new Miss Marple, Geraldine McEwan delivers a truly terrifying performance as the Mother Superior (who turns out to a a superior mutha), who squirrels away the money generated by the laundry whilst heading up a brutal regime of abuse and degredation. Winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, this is deserving of every plaudit going. It certainly has me pondering the question; which is worse - evil done in the name of evil or evil done in the name of religion. After seeing this I can only conclude that it's the latter. The most shocking element of the film comes towards the end when it's revealed that the last of the laundries closed as recently as 1996. An important piece of work from all concerned.