Film Analysis Of The Film 'The Magdalene Sisters'

‘The Magdalene Sisters’ is a 2002 Irish-British Feature Length Drama film Directed by award winning Filmmaker Peter Mullan. This film serves as an eye opening, public announcement film about the true story of three teenage Irish girls who are sent against their will, to the -now infamous Magdalene Asylums (commonly referred to as the ‘Magdalene Laundries’)- run by Catholic Nuns. In Ireland in the 60’s, women could and were often sent to these asylums for ‘crimes’ such as engaging in sexual activity or becoming pregnant outside of marriage. Once inside these laundries, they were forced into harsh, unpaid labour in the form of washing clothes.
Although the film is set in Ireland in 1964, the film was in fact filmed entirely on location in the

Mullan does not hesitate in portraying the events on screen (eg clerical sexual abuse, physical abuse, condemning the church). It is clear that he has researched his topic in great detail. His cast seem to fit perfectly into their roles. ‘Sister Bridget’ (Geraldine McEwan) the head nun, terrified me from the beginning, even when she said nothing. Eileen Walsh who plays ‘Crispina’, is tasked with portraying a ‘simple minded’ character who is possibly mentally challenged and she does so with flawless results.
In the outdoor mass scene, Crispina screams at the priest: ‘You’re not a man of god’ and repeats this long after another Director would have yelled cut- this is important because it tells us me that the Director is directing from his gut instinct- Crispina doesn’t stop, she is enraged and wants to vent the years of built up anger at the priest.
It appeared that the Director chose to completely ignore makeup (something that would be essential in hollywood cinema). The Director is staying true to his story and this is what earns him my

What was very interesting to see was the cinematographers choice to light the ladies to emphasize their facial features in order to highlight their beauty.

Writing: In many ways I felt that the plot (escaping the asylum) was predictable, but I never felt bored by it. At the ending of the film I was very disappointed when the director didn't show us what happened to all the characters, he merely told us via title cards which felt like a lazy move on his part. But the dialogue felt very authentic- I frequently felt that I was in fact watching a documentary it felt that real .

Music: On one hand I felt the director underutilized the use of music in this piece, but on the other I figure the Director wanted this effect- he let the scene, and its silence convey the true horror. He didn't want to use music to control how the audience felt. The ending song felt particularly poignant and worked extremely