I love to watch Judi Dench in historical British movies. I think I've seen her in one contemporary movie several years ago and she was awesome. She always seems to play a hideously, mean woman! Lol...the role of Philomena Lee is a complete 180 for her. Philomena is a soft-spoken gentlewoman and it was refreshing. I didn't miss that "old meanie" one bit! Ha!
Philomena is based on a true story; the 2009 book called The Lost Child of Philomena Lee. Philomena had a child out of wedlock in 1952 Ireland and was disowned by her very Catholic family. She was sent to a convent for unwed mothers where she gave birth to her son, Anthony. Let me tell you, that place was scary. It felt like a prison. More than one mother and child lost their lives there---and remember, this was a true story---Unbelievable. The mothers were allowed to see their kids for an hour a day. When Anthony was a toddler, about three, he given up for adoption and it wasn't really done with Philomena's consent. That happened to a lot of the mothers there. It was horrible. Imagine bonding with your child for several years and they're suddenly gone. The convent was selling babies to couples in the US.
Philomena eventually moved on with her life, but she never forgot Anthony. She was obsessed with wondering if her son ever thought of her. She eventually met a journalist named Martin Sixspence. He decided to write a "human interest" story about her. The saga ends up with them in the US trying to track down her son.
It's a tearjerker. I heard more than a few sniffles in the theater and shed tears myself. I don't want to give away a major spoiler. I'll just say that Philomena's son became surprisingly accomplished. I'll leave it at that...
I came away from the movie with one important lesson: Mercy. You have to extend mercy if you truly know God. The nuns at that convent showed an amazingly lack of it. And again, it was all true...*sigh*...
Go check out PHILOMENA.
It's worth it.
Toodles...
Fab review! I knew this would be sad!
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