Philomena
I’ve always wanted children. I don’t say it very often but it is something that drives me crazy on those nights when I lay up at night and think about how far behind I am in life. For Philomena Lee, she grew up way too fast at a young age and then paid penance for 50 years. She liked the sex you see. He was so handsome and he chose her. What came from that blessed union of two people is a tragedy and another shameful moment for the Catholic Church. It seems the more you look at the choices and cover ups, the more troubled you get. I’m sure they always mean well but the things they did to cover up molestation and here, the selling of children to wealthy Americans is shameful. It makes me wonder if they spent any time in confession telling the Lord of their sins and expected a reprieve.
Philomena, starring Dame Judi Dench and Steve Coogan (who also wrote the script) is based on the 2009 book by BBC correspondent Martin Sixsmith, "The Lost Child of Philomena Lee." It opens with Sixsmith (Coogan) having been disgraced as a government advisor and unemployed as a result. He is quite lost and depressed until he meets the daughter of Philomena Lee, who asks him to do a story on her mother. Fifty years ago, Philomena had conceived a child out of wedlock. The church, which her Irish Catholic father had sent her too in disgrace, had adopted the baby without her consent and in following church doctrine and believing that what she had done was a grave sin, Philomena had signed a contract that wouldn’t allow her to inquire into her son Anthony’s whereabouts. Sixsmith is not immediately interested in writing a human interest piece which he deems the lowest form of journalism but as he thinks on Philomena’s story he finally agrees to write it and meets with her to uncover the truth about her son’s “adoption”. This leads Philomena and Martin to travel to America to try to find Philomena’s son.
I was struck by the honesty of Philomena as portrayed by Judi Dench. She sees the good in people and always tries to connect with someone whether it be the cook in the hotel cooking her omelet or someone who knew her son. As the truth begins to unravel and I became more and more angry, I wondered how she could forgive and be so calm. This small woman with such grief and pain in her heart. Judi Dench is stunning in a role that I didn’t picture immediately when I thought of Dame Judi Dench. She seems able to melt into any role, becoming the person written for her. With a slight cockney accent and a fascination with people, she became someone you rooted for. Steve Coogan, known mostly for comedic work, for his part is good in a serious role and carries the gravitas of a man who has lost his faith in everything and is trying to get past all the anger he still has pent up inside him. Coogan plays him as a man with a quick smile and a one liner who considers himself better than others. Throughout the movie, Coogan begins to lose his anger and narcissism, letting his ego and what happened to him go. In the face of this woman and what was done to her, his life is quite easy.
Most eye opening of anything in this film is the practice of shaming and self hatred the Catholic church threw upon these frightened young girls who had made a mistake. I know it isn’t indicative of the entire church but seeing how they handled these women and stole their children is sickening. They were sent to this church to have a safe place to have their children and live. Instead they offered no guidance and shamed these women who had to suffer dearly for their choices. Early on Martin finds an overgrown field with the graves of the children and mothers who did not survive childbirth. One he sees, is 14 years old. Do these girls deserve less respect in death because of the one sin they committed while alive. Philomena herself was forced to deliver a breech baby ( a baby who comes out feet first) without painkillers so she could receive her punishment from the Lord. That this was a regular practice in Ireland is shocking. To steal babies from young women who don’t know any better and believe they need to in order to atone for their sins. It pisses me off.
Philomena is a great movie. One in a million, as Philomena might say, and is definitely worth the price of admission. Judi Dench is brilliant (which I’ve kind of come to expect) and Steve Coogan more than holds his own. Stephen Frears, the director, has a knack for making movies that appeal to the heart in people. I will forever owe him for the work done on High Fidelity (John Cusak’s best work as far as I am concerned) and Philomena does the same thing. He creates a solid method of telling the story while interspersing home movies of Anthony as he grows up. As Martin's editor says when Martin pitches her the story that a good piece can end really happily or end up really sad. I’ll let you see what the ending of this story is for yourself. The movie earns it’s ending and so should you. Whether or not those nuns who judged their charges so harshly deserve to be forgiven is not for me or you to decide. I'm sure their higher power has a few choice questions for them.
Mr. Unhappy sez: Philomena is another surprise movie that I wasn’t sure I’d like. Is it the Best Picture? No. Yet it has a reason to be on the ballot. This is a great heartwarming movie that takes a tragedy and redeems it. If you think I may have spoiled the movie with that last line, I didn’t. See it for yourself.
Philomena, starring Dame Judi Dench and Steve Coogan (who also wrote the script) is based on the 2009 book by BBC correspondent Martin Sixsmith, "The Lost Child of Philomena Lee." It opens with Sixsmith (Coogan) having been disgraced as a government advisor and unemployed as a result. He is quite lost and depressed until he meets the daughter of Philomena Lee, who asks him to do a story on her mother. Fifty years ago, Philomena had conceived a child out of wedlock. The church, which her Irish Catholic father had sent her too in disgrace, had adopted the baby without her consent and in following church doctrine and believing that what she had done was a grave sin, Philomena had signed a contract that wouldn’t allow her to inquire into her son Anthony’s whereabouts. Sixsmith is not immediately interested in writing a human interest piece which he deems the lowest form of journalism but as he thinks on Philomena’s story he finally agrees to write it and meets with her to uncover the truth about her son’s “adoption”. This leads Philomena and Martin to travel to America to try to find Philomena’s son.
I was struck by the honesty of Philomena as portrayed by Judi Dench. She sees the good in people and always tries to connect with someone whether it be the cook in the hotel cooking her omelet or someone who knew her son. As the truth begins to unravel and I became more and more angry, I wondered how she could forgive and be so calm. This small woman with such grief and pain in her heart. Judi Dench is stunning in a role that I didn’t picture immediately when I thought of Dame Judi Dench. She seems able to melt into any role, becoming the person written for her. With a slight cockney accent and a fascination with people, she became someone you rooted for. Steve Coogan, known mostly for comedic work, for his part is good in a serious role and carries the gravitas of a man who has lost his faith in everything and is trying to get past all the anger he still has pent up inside him. Coogan plays him as a man with a quick smile and a one liner who considers himself better than others. Throughout the movie, Coogan begins to lose his anger and narcissism, letting his ego and what happened to him go. In the face of this woman and what was done to her, his life is quite easy.
Most eye opening of anything in this film is the practice of shaming and self hatred the Catholic church threw upon these frightened young girls who had made a mistake. I know it isn’t indicative of the entire church but seeing how they handled these women and stole their children is sickening. They were sent to this church to have a safe place to have their children and live. Instead they offered no guidance and shamed these women who had to suffer dearly for their choices. Early on Martin finds an overgrown field with the graves of the children and mothers who did not survive childbirth. One he sees, is 14 years old. Do these girls deserve less respect in death because of the one sin they committed while alive. Philomena herself was forced to deliver a breech baby ( a baby who comes out feet first) without painkillers so she could receive her punishment from the Lord. That this was a regular practice in Ireland is shocking. To steal babies from young women who don’t know any better and believe they need to in order to atone for their sins. It pisses me off.
Philomena is a great movie. One in a million, as Philomena might say, and is definitely worth the price of admission. Judi Dench is brilliant (which I’ve kind of come to expect) and Steve Coogan more than holds his own. Stephen Frears, the director, has a knack for making movies that appeal to the heart in people. I will forever owe him for the work done on High Fidelity (John Cusak’s best work as far as I am concerned) and Philomena does the same thing. He creates a solid method of telling the story while interspersing home movies of Anthony as he grows up. As Martin's editor says when Martin pitches her the story that a good piece can end really happily or end up really sad. I’ll let you see what the ending of this story is for yourself. The movie earns it’s ending and so should you. Whether or not those nuns who judged their charges so harshly deserve to be forgiven is not for me or you to decide. I'm sure their higher power has a few choice questions for them.
Mr. Unhappy sez: Philomena is another surprise movie that I wasn’t sure I’d like. Is it the Best Picture? No. Yet it has a reason to be on the ballot. This is a great heartwarming movie that takes a tragedy and redeems it. If you think I may have spoiled the movie with that last line, I didn’t. See it for yourself.
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