Philomena (Judi Dench)

(Amazon UK link)

I am pretty sure that Amazon recommended the film ‘Philomena’ to me because I have liked so many films starring or featuring Dame Judi Dench. I was given the DVD for my birthday a few months ago, and last night we decided to watch it.

The advantage of waiting some months before watching new DVDs is that I had entirely forgotten the blurb and reviews which I had read beforehand. I had even forgotten that the movie was based on a real life story, although as it progressed I realised that it almost certainly was. There was realistic film footage that was evidently of a real person.

The main character, Philomena, is brilliantly portrayed by Judi Dench. The actress must have been almost eighty when this was made, but we had no difficulty believing her to be the 68-year-old Irish Philomena, whom we first meet when she lights a candle in the church. Her adult daughter sees her crying, and Philomena shows her a photograph of a small boy, whom, she says, would have been fifty.

Philomena’s daughter had no idea that she had an elder half-brother, Anthony, who was adopted when he was three. She accepts this revelation in a way that seems rather too easy, and asks a former journalist, Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) if he would consider helping her mother find her son. Martin isn’t keen at first but he’s lost his former job, so eventually agrees.

Most of the film follows Philomena and Martin as they travel, first around Ireland and then further afield in the hope of finding some clues to Anthony’s whereabouts. This is interspersed with scenes from Philomena’s life as a teenager, played believably by Sophie Kennedy Clark. We see the young man she met and kissed, without any idea where this might lead. We see, too, the strict convent where she was sent by her family, who disowned her when she was obviously pregnant. There are scenes following the birth, which was traumatic in the extreme, and her years working in the laundry at the convent, seeing her son for only an hour each day. We also, eventually, learn of what happened when Anthony was adopted, and why she didn’t see him again.

Although billed as a comedy, it’s a bittersweet story of discovery, and also of the growing friendship between the unlikely pairing of a hard-nosed political journalist and an elderly woman who sometimes seems naive, yet has seen (and experienced) a lot of suffering. The on-screen chemistry between the two is excellent, with Philomena becoming more confident, and Martin realising that people matter more than stories.

To say much more about the story would be to give spoilers. We were caught up in the film almost from the start, finding it sad yet with some superb one-liners and comic moments to lighten the serious nature of the film. It was very powerful, demonstrating the cruelty that apparently wasn’t uncommon towards unmarried mothers in the 1960s, and also the power of forgiveness.

There’s one ‘extra’ on the DVD, explaining how the real Martin Sixsmith came to meet the real Philomena. Both of them were on the set and somewhat involved in the making of the film, although a book was written first to bring this kind of situation to the public eye. We found the extra, with commentary from most of the main characters and the director, as well as the ‘real’ people, to be almost as moving as the film itself.

The rating is 12, which I would say is about right. There are a few instances of ‘strong’ language, and some traumatic scenes, including that of childbirth; yet there’s no nudity or violence, and nothing explicit.

Very highly recommended.

Review copyright 2018 Sue's DVD Reviews