Cast: Judi Dench, Steve Coogan, Sophie Kennedy Clark
Director: Stephen Frears
Screenplay: Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope

Synopsis: A world-weary political journalist, Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan), picks up the story of a woman’s search for her, Philomena (Judi Dench), son who was taken away from her decades ago after she became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent. [2].

Review:

“Philomena” is a touching story of one woman’s journey to find her child taken from her when she was a teenager. Philomena must learn to overcome obstacles similar those found by Toto in his coming of age journey in “Cinema Paradiso,” such as a lifetime of regret, and the heavy hand of the Catholic Church during the formative years. At the beginning of “Philomena,” we see Philomena as a quirky Irish Catholic woman who does not pick up on the simplest forms of sarcasm or wit. This leads one to presume from the beginning that there is a distinct possibility that this simple woman who has mostly lived a sheltered life may even be making up this story just for a little attention. As the story unfolds, we begin to understand the depths of Philomena with all her struggles, and appreciate the multiple dimensions and nuances she exhibits throughout the film.

Certain criticisms of the film hinged on the screenplay not fully knowing if it wanted to be a comedy or a drama [5]. I believe that the brilliance of the screenplay is that Philomena’s wondrous spirit, having endured such tragedy, speaks more to her courage, and makes her seem more real as a person. If Philomena was not curious about the world, and if she did not take joy in the simple pleasures, then Philomena would have been more of a single dimensional character which would have had an entirely different tone in the film. In the presentation of the film, the underlying message of regret in losing a child would have been lost if the protagonist was an angry unsympathetic old Irish Catholic. From the beginning of the film, we can emphasize with Philomena as a likable person with real human faults, and enjoy following her through her journey.

One of the core themes throughout “Philomena” is the heavy hand of the Catholic Church during the early years of Philomena’s life. The covenant punished Philomena for her “transgressions” of falling in love, having premarital sex, and getting pregnant with the possibility of bearing a child out of wedlock. The Church felt that the proper punishment was to secure Philomena to years as of indentured servitude, and sell her child to the highest bidder. As the story unfolds and these actions taken by the covenant, an extension of the Church, become evident, we begin to seek redemption for the Church’s own transgressions. There is a hope, as formulaic as it is, that Philomena will find her lost son simply because of how likable Philomena is and how this reunion would make up for some of the pain the Church inflicted on her life.

Unfortunately, during the second act, we find that Philomena’s son has passed away. This heartbreaking scene is brutal because Philomena never had the chance to say goodbye, never had the chance to meet her son as an adult. A loss like this for any parent is tragic, but at the beginning of the third act, we find out that this could have been entirely prevented. The Church told Philomena for decades that they did not know where her son was, but all along they knew, and decided to lie to Philomena. The most stunning revelation is that her son did in fact come back to Ireland to the covenant where he was given away looking for Philomena. He was dying from Aids, and wanted to be with his mother at the end. The Church took that moment away by denying both of them that last chance for closure simply because the Church felt that a teenager bearing a child out of wedlock, and this same child, a homosexual, should both bear their “sins” to a lifetime of punishment. This horror is inexcusable in any context, but the fact that this was based upon true events in Philomena’s life makes the atrocities committed by the Church all the more horrid.

We see Philomena with a lifetime of regret because she has not been able to get in contact with her son for over fifty years. Philomena has no regret of having her child reflecting upon her experience with a smile, knowing that her child was born from love.  Philomena had no regret that her son was a homosexual. Philomena simply wanted to know that her son lived a content, happy life. All Philomena ever wanted to know was whether her son ever thought about her, and everyone up until the third act lied to her telling her that her son never asked about her when in fact he did. Philomena continued to go to church praying that one day she would be able to find her son taken from her years past. One could only hope that a devout Catholic with a lifetime of prayers, living an honest life, would have at least one moment with her child. Instead, we find that the Church has been lying to Philomena over those five decades. In a moment of revelation in the beginning of the third act, we see Philomena realize that the only regret that she should bear is trusting the Church in the first place, evidenced by her storming out of the church without blessing herself. In a poignant moment, Philomena comes full circle at the covenant by releasing the real regret she had in trusting the church, and forgiving them. In that moment, I felt that Philomena was a better person than any of those at the covenant, and in some ways better than me for the simple reason that I could not have forgiven them.

In summary, Philomena had a bittersweet moment where she finally found her son after decades of searching, but unfortunately she was unable to tell him about her life, and ask him about his. The depth of this movie is inspirational, from watching the growth of Philomena’s character through the film, the exposure to atrocities committed by the Church decades earlier, to be reminded of the spiteful things human beings can do to each other, and also of the little kindnesses that usually go unnoticed. I found this film to be rejuvenating and a welcome ticket purchase that has made up for a string of unpleasant movie going experiences in 2013. “Philomena” will endure as one of the best films of 2013.

References:

  1. Coogan, Steve. Philomena. Shooting Script. 2013. The TWC Awards. Mon. 17 Feb. 2014. <http://twcawards.com/assets/downloads/pdf/philomena-screenplay.pdf>.
  2. “Philomena.” IMDb: The Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com-Amazon.com, 1990-2014. Mon. 17 Feb. 2014. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2431286/>.
  3. “Philomena.” Rotten Tomatoes.com, 2014. Mon. 17 Feb. 2014. <http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/philomena/>.
  4. “Philomena.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 2014. Mon. 17 Feb. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philomena_%28film%29>.
  5. Carpenter, Chris. Reverend’s Reviews: Sins of the Past. Movie Reviews. 15 Nov. 2013. Mon. 17 Feb. 2014. <http://moviedearest.blogspot.com/2013/11/reverends-reviews-sins-of-past.html>.