Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Magdalene Sisters

This is topic Magdalene Sisters in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 08-31-2003, 01:54 PM:

A great movie. A must see. It's about the Irish laundries run by nuns where they coerced many women to work like slaves and were actually put in these places by their own parents for reasons varying from being victims of rape to having kids out of wedlock.

The movie is paced well. It succeeds in getting you mad at the catholic church authorities in Ireland for facilitating such horrors. It also has doses of humor and intrigue. Very well acted. You will not be bored. It's amazing that none of the actresses have had any decent offers after this movie.

Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 08-31-2003, 02:31 PM:

I have not seen this film, but for those who are interested, CBS SUNDAY MORNING has done a piece on this subject.

Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 09-09-2003, 05:20 PM:

Regal Warrington Crossing, Warrington PA, 9/6, 6:15 PM show. Hall #15, attendance ~60 -- a strong turnout on a very slow Saturday. Warrington Crossing has a Bucks County exclusive for this film.

A day or so after I saw The Magdalene Sisters it got me thinking: Once a year or so word gets out about some boardinghouse in the US where this type of stuff happens. The difference is that in Ireland it's run by Catholics and in the US it's run by a fundamentalist Christian group.

Similarities aside, The Magdalene Sisters does have vivid moments, which for our US Film-Techers I will not spoil. The audience was 80 percent white-haired ladies and few people (if any) talked. What they saw was what they easily might have ended up as. Back in the day nuns were not to be fooled with.

Miramax picked up The Magdalene Sisters last year to lots of scare stories -- then El Crimen del Padre Amaro opened. The Weinstein family was going to bury this film but people in New York started seeing it. Check it out when it hits your area.

Projection: Image was borderline acceptable for a fresh-from-the-lab print (Warrington Crossing opened this film on the national break). Plenty of dirt, especially in the reel changes. There was a hairline scratch visible from the Miramax logo through the first 4-5 minutes of R1. Sound was excellent Dolby Digital.

The masking in this hall made The 20wenty (preshow) image look windowboxed while the 1.85:1 film image fit perfectly.