30 second bottom line:
"The Magdalene Sisters" is a controversial film that paints a bleak picture of life in an Irish convent that houses unwanted girls. The film is a gritty, realistic, and often horrifying indictment of a culture that gave women no choices or rights.
Story Line: Writer/director Peter Mullan's documentary-like work of fiction was made in order to expose the hypocrisy, victimization, and abuse that allegedly occurred in some convents. The film follows three subplots involving three women whose lives intersect. Rose (Dorothy Duffy) is given over to a convent by her parents because they are too ashamed to house her after she gives birth. Margaret (Anne-Marie Duff) is sent there after she is blamed for her rape at the hands of her male cousin. Bernadette (Eileen Walsh in a stunning performance) is a rebellious and desperate teen. She fearlessly tries to escapes and risks getting a beating and having her hair shaved off.
Tell me more about it:
The film features some highly charged moments that are almost too painful to watch. A nun verbally harasses a group of naked young women in the shower in one scene. In another, a priest gets oral sex from a girl, and later the same day, he gives her communion. These scenes are never exploitative, and they are always presented through the viewpoints of the girls rather than the captors.
The Magdalene Sisters is one of the most chilling critiques of a Catholic run institution since Jacques Rivette's "The Nun." It is a powerful, unflinching look at certain events that many would rather forget or ignore.
All the performances are on-target and completely realistic. The film is so convincing that viewers may feel that the abuse is actually happening to them.
This film is much more effective than the recent abuse film, "Capturing the Friedmans," because it is able to completely get into the minds of the victims.
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