The Magdeline Sisters
There are few movies that strike horror deep into my soul with the weight of my sense of powerless, and helpless anger and sorrow. Schindler's List was one of them. It's not just the events, but how it is done in the terms of film, that truly give weight to a film's message.
This is a film that is perhaps unlikely most people I know have seen. It was made in 2002, and deals with events of the 1960s in Ireland. It is one of those films based on true events, and perhaps because of it's faithfulness in following the life stories of three women, has taken a disturbingly understated examination of the lives they lived.
The Magdeline Sisters is a Catholic convent. And it is where the women who have "sinned" are sent. When I speak of "sin" in this sense, I speak of things revolving around the Church's hysteric view of women's sexuality. The movie follows closely three women who are sent by their families or guardians to the convent, for different reasons.
In the case of Rose (Patricia), it is because she had a child out of wedlock. After being essentially forced through a sense of guilt, she agrees to let her child be adopted. Even though she immediately changes her mind, her father physically restrains her. And for the "sin" of bearing a child before marriage, she is sent to be "cleansed."
In the case of Margaret, it is because during the wedding of a friend, a cousin of hers claims that he has something that he wants to tell her. When he gets her alone, he tries to molest her. She tells him off, and when she goes to shut the door, he slams it back into her face, and in the ensuing moment when she is struck by the pain, he uses his advantage of size to rape her. He then goes down to the celebration to have a beer, and Margaret tells her friend what happened. The word spreads around, and finally, a day or two later, it is not her cousin who is punished--it is Margaret. For the "sin" of losing her virginity outside of marriage, she is sent away.
And in an even more tragic case, Bernadette, an orphan, is sent to the convent for the sin of being pretty, and flirting with boys outside the gate. Still even a virgin, she is locked away because of the possibility that she may lead a man into sin.
The convent itself is a place of slavery, where like the old mental institutions of earlier and darker times, once inside the walls, the only way out from the inside is through the word of the Mother Superior. And she is a greedy, sadistic old woman who uses a sweet tone when she shaves off a girl's hair for her own "purification." Their work is laundry--and they are paid nothing for it.
There are other "inmates" as well, such as Crispina (not her real name--which is unknown until the end of the film), who is a bit touched in the head, who bore a child. Then there are those such as Katy, a much older woman who has spent her entire adult life in the convent, who has become a sort of snitch, who was likely raped by soldiers and bore a child, many, many years before.
There is brutality, and violence, but not always in physical form. One of the most harrowing scenes for me as a female was when two of the nuns forced the women to stand in a line after showering, and compared their body parts, such as who has the smallest breasts, who has the largest, who has the hairest vagina, and so on. The women are not allowed to speak out, and even when one begins to cry from the shame, she is scolded harshly, and mocked. It is nothing like watching a woman being raped, or being beaten, but far more psychologically hurtful. You can feel the deep, burning shame and rage inside each of the women, whose only true sin was to be born into the wrong place, at the wrong time.
In short, this film is a movie that women, and men, need to see. In particular, it is a film that those who are religious need to see, because while the movie takes pains to demonstrate how ungodly the priests and nuns truly are...in many, many ways, the Magdeline Sisters hold to many principles of Catholocism, many of the laws set down in the the Bible. The horrible, disgusting laws that declare that women are to be punished for the sins of others, who should be ashamed of their bodies, and of their vulnerability. The laws that say that we should be punished for allowing a priest to rape us, for having "tempted" him into sinning.
I would say that as long as you are prepared to watch a piece of our human history that is not often talked about, or discussed, and take it in without trying to deny its existence or justify those who took part in the events that the film covers, then I would recommend this movie to you. There are some truly beautiful shots, and some that are heartwrenching. But, what is most difficult, in so many ways, is to know that this represents only a small part of a much larger history. A history that over 30,000 women had to live; a history that continued up until 1996.
http://movies.netflix.com/Movie/The_Magdalene_Sisters/60029191?trkid=496624#height1656
Now, I'm going to go and be depressed for the rest of the evening. If you'll excuse me...
This is a film that is perhaps unlikely most people I know have seen. It was made in 2002, and deals with events of the 1960s in Ireland. It is one of those films based on true events, and perhaps because of it's faithfulness in following the life stories of three women, has taken a disturbingly understated examination of the lives they lived.
The Magdeline Sisters is a Catholic convent. And it is where the women who have "sinned" are sent. When I speak of "sin" in this sense, I speak of things revolving around the Church's hysteric view of women's sexuality. The movie follows closely three women who are sent by their families or guardians to the convent, for different reasons.
In the case of Rose (Patricia), it is because she had a child out of wedlock. After being essentially forced through a sense of guilt, she agrees to let her child be adopted. Even though she immediately changes her mind, her father physically restrains her. And for the "sin" of bearing a child before marriage, she is sent to be "cleansed."
In the case of Margaret, it is because during the wedding of a friend, a cousin of hers claims that he has something that he wants to tell her. When he gets her alone, he tries to molest her. She tells him off, and when she goes to shut the door, he slams it back into her face, and in the ensuing moment when she is struck by the pain, he uses his advantage of size to rape her. He then goes down to the celebration to have a beer, and Margaret tells her friend what happened. The word spreads around, and finally, a day or two later, it is not her cousin who is punished--it is Margaret. For the "sin" of losing her virginity outside of marriage, she is sent away.
And in an even more tragic case, Bernadette, an orphan, is sent to the convent for the sin of being pretty, and flirting with boys outside the gate. Still even a virgin, she is locked away because of the possibility that she may lead a man into sin.
The convent itself is a place of slavery, where like the old mental institutions of earlier and darker times, once inside the walls, the only way out from the inside is through the word of the Mother Superior. And she is a greedy, sadistic old woman who uses a sweet tone when she shaves off a girl's hair for her own "purification." Their work is laundry--and they are paid nothing for it.
There are other "inmates" as well, such as Crispina (not her real name--which is unknown until the end of the film), who is a bit touched in the head, who bore a child. Then there are those such as Katy, a much older woman who has spent her entire adult life in the convent, who has become a sort of snitch, who was likely raped by soldiers and bore a child, many, many years before.
There is brutality, and violence, but not always in physical form. One of the most harrowing scenes for me as a female was when two of the nuns forced the women to stand in a line after showering, and compared their body parts, such as who has the smallest breasts, who has the largest, who has the hairest vagina, and so on. The women are not allowed to speak out, and even when one begins to cry from the shame, she is scolded harshly, and mocked. It is nothing like watching a woman being raped, or being beaten, but far more psychologically hurtful. You can feel the deep, burning shame and rage inside each of the women, whose only true sin was to be born into the wrong place, at the wrong time.
In short, this film is a movie that women, and men, need to see. In particular, it is a film that those who are religious need to see, because while the movie takes pains to demonstrate how ungodly the priests and nuns truly are...in many, many ways, the Magdeline Sisters hold to many principles of Catholocism, many of the laws set down in the the Bible. The horrible, disgusting laws that declare that women are to be punished for the sins of others, who should be ashamed of their bodies, and of their vulnerability. The laws that say that we should be punished for allowing a priest to rape us, for having "tempted" him into sinning.
I would say that as long as you are prepared to watch a piece of our human history that is not often talked about, or discussed, and take it in without trying to deny its existence or justify those who took part in the events that the film covers, then I would recommend this movie to you. There are some truly beautiful shots, and some that are heartwrenching. But, what is most difficult, in so many ways, is to know that this represents only a small part of a much larger history. A history that over 30,000 women had to live; a history that continued up until 1996.
http://movies.netflix.com/Movie/The_Magdalene_Sisters/60029191?trkid=496624#height1656
Now, I'm going to go and be depressed for the rest of the evening. If you'll excuse me...