Philomena

Worth watching again. A powerful performance from Judi Dench about young woman forced to work in Magdalene convent laundries, and whose illegitimate son is adopted against her wishes.

A poignant true story. BBC2 9.00 tonight.

Re: Philomena

Thanks for reminding me. I missed it last time.

Re: Philomena

You may need the tissues handy.

Re: Philomena

The subject was good - but - why on earth did they choose Judi Dench over an Irish actress? Her appalling attempt at an Irish accent ruined what was otherwise an excellent, if harrowing, film.

Re: Philomena

Judi Dench was the first choice of the people who made the film.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/f...ve-Coogan.html

Re: Philomena

I do like Judi Dench - she was excellent as Queen Victoria in 'Mrs Brown' and in the comedy series - whose name escapes me but also starred Geoffrey Palmer - but she is useless at accents. It spoiled the film, for me anyway, because it sounded so false and she could not sustain it for more than two sentences together.

I know she is a 'national treasure' and I will probably be jumped on from a great height for daring to criticise - but it is just my opinion.

Re: Philomena

I really enjoyed this unexpected gem. I doubt it would have been so enjoyable were it not for Judi Dench. I was actually thinking as I watched that any film with her in is going to be a success. Although the actress who played the young Philomena was very good too.

I wasn't so much bothered by her accent, but some of the American accents did grate a bit because they seemed fake. They say the American accent is derived from the Western Irish accent so the combination of the two on screen can be a bit too much. When the american lady serving the breakfast at the hotel in the US came up and started talking about pancakes and omelettes I thought her accent was starting to drift into Irish.

So sad that Judi Dench has so many problems with her eyes. I hope it doesn't stop her acting.

Re: Philomena

Harrowing film , and true as we know . I do wonder how those nuns could believe that they were GOD people knowing what they were doing . I had an elderly friend who was brought up by nuns and the things they did to her were cruel and evil , I used to ask her to speak to a journalist but she wouldn't sadly she's now passed over , her story was harrowing too .

Re: Philomena

I grew up hearing that 'bad girls' get sent to the nuns, it was the ultimate threat.
Little did I know that my grandmother had been with the nuns for nearly two years after her mother died. This would have been about 1930 or so, she was just 6 or 7 at the time and she was sent there because people thought a man alone could not raise two little girls. As soon as he re-married he got his girls back. Nan never spoke about what happneded but she said nuns were the most evil people in the world.

She must have been horrified when dad sent me to a catholic school full of them at age 5!