Above – Steve Coogan and Judi Dench
Below – the real Martin Sixsmith & Philomena Lee
PHILOMENA – directed by Stephen Frears (UK, 2013)
There’s one reference to the clitoris and a few ‘fucks’ but otherwise this is the kind of film you could watch with your mom without fear of embarrassment.
The presence of Dame Judi Dench in the title role adds a further weight of respectability to proceedings.
Peter Mullen’s The Magdalene Sisters touches on similar themes of vindictive nuns doing bad things to ‘fallen’ women in Ireland but that movie was much fiercer.
The rage in Philomena comes not from the wronged woman but from Alex Sixsmith (Steve Coogan), the BBC journalist who helps her trace the long lost son who was sold to a wealthy American couple 50 years before.
The human interest story of Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) and Philomena means that is not simply a rant against religious hypocrisy although we are left in no doubt about Sixsmith’s views on Catholicism! The film is based on a true story but since Philomena never actually travelled to the U.S. with Sixsmith many parts have obviously been made up for dramatic effect.
Ultimately, it’s a cosy buddy movie with a message and, paradoxically, the gentle, warm-hearted tone is probably more effective than Mullen’s film in highlighting the injustice done to Philomena and many other women like her.
Related link:
The real story of Philomena Lee (Daily Mail)
Until it was yuppified , Soho was a seedy area of Central London with strip clubs, triple X cinemas, ‘adult’ video stores and rooms where you could rent the personal services of young ‘models’ who claimed to be fluent in French or Greek.
