Philomena (2013)
Directed by Stephen Frears
A woman searches for her adult son, who was taken away from her decades ago when she was forced to live in a convent.
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What critics compared Philomena to
The reason for that, aside from Dench's acting, is the strength of her story, which has parallels to the tales told in Peter Mullan 's considerably more savage 2002 feature, "The Magdalene Sisters."
The nuns' cruelty to the younger Philomena is akin to what we saw in Peter Mullan's "The Magdalene Sisters" (who are even cited in one scene) and it opens the door for Sixsmith's questioning of the place of religion in modern society.
The depiction of events at the convent brings to mind Peter Mullan's poignant and unflinching 2002 film The Magdalene Sisters which revealed the inhuman treatment of large numbers of "fallen women" in Irish Catholic asylums where they worked in profit-making laundries as virtual slaves.
Star Steve Coogan (various Alan Partridge series and movies) and Jeff Pope ("Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman") have adapted Sixmith's book 'The Lost Child of Philomena Lee' as an odd couple road movie with flashbacks recalling Peter Mullen's 2002 Venice Film Festival winner "The Magdalene Sisters."
Though it flickers with the fury that coursed through Peter Mullan’s The Magdalene Sisters , another film about this chapter in U.K. history, Philomena ultimately strives to be a tale of forgiveness.
As such, Catholic officials might be disinclined to take up arms against “Spotlight” as vocally as they did with “Philomena” (2013), which invited legitimate criticism with its cartoonishly villainous Irish nuns and other dramatic liberties.
We don’t ever properly understand the human cost as we did with, say, Philomena.
Given the B.O. receipts and Oscar nominations racked up by Stephen Frears’ anti-clerical dramedy “Philomena,” it will be intriguing to see how McDonagh’s less ingratiating but vastly more accomplished picture plays with audiences in Ireland and beyond.
In fact, McDonagh maintains a tone much more in keeping with Bresson’s “Diary of a Country Priest” or Jean-Pierre Melville’s “Léon Morin, Priest” than the churlish score-settling of “Philomena.”
The movie offers the most candid consideration of the Catholic Church's scandals to date, and serves as a satisfying corrective to the wishy-washy, forgive-and-forget pabulum espoused by last year's Philomena.
Best known for his comedic roles — such as the madcap director in “Tropic Thunder” and the miniature Octavius in the “Night at the Museum” films — Coogan cast himself as Sixsmith in “Philomena.”
Coogan (“Tropic Thunder”,”Night at the Museum”) dials down his snarl just a hair as Sixsmith, a man who doesn’t share Philomena’s faith or patience with the nuns who refuse to acknowledge their crimes against her, way back when, and their ongoing cover-up.