Philomena

Saw this film on Saturday. There must be many grans who were affected by this film. In 1970 my doctor tried to get me to give my baby up for adoption to a childless married couple I knew who were in their early forties. Thank God my baby's father and my parents stood by me and I was able to keep the baby.

I'm going to see this next week, and I'm quite looking forward to it.

I loved it too. Ive ordered the book to read. I would love to know a bit more about Philomena s life after the adoption and before the film was made. I hope she found some happiness in her other children.

I'm going on Tuesday. Having been taught in strict catholic schools by nuns/priests/brothers myself, I have experience of the way they (some) treated people. Storynanny - There is an interview with Philomena Lee in the Telegraph online. I'm not good with links sorry but if you Google it it will come up.

Great film and a fascinating and heartbreaking tale, well told. This truth must out. Shocking what was done to those girls in the name of the Church. What a story, "you couldn't make it up" - as I said to my daughter who saw it with me (she was incredulous at the cruelty).

I don't usually like Steve Coogan but he was excellent.

Just seen it today. Loved it. Judi Dench wonderful as usual. I too am not keen on Steve Coogan but he was great. A film made about 10 years ago called the Magdeleine Sisters on a similar theme was also great.

Interview with Steve Coogan on at the moment; the bloke is far far cleverer than I ever realised.

Yes, I saw the film last week.Wonderful, bu it made me sad AND angry. The acting was brilliant! I read somewhere that film makers will be making more films for the older veiwers.About time there was more of that; Ilike to go to the cinema,especially on Wednesday afternoons, when, if you have an orange mobile, you can get 2 for 1.
(That is not an ad for orange, by the way).
Theres not too many films that don't have violence or swearing in nowadays, so Philomena was just great.And the cinema was more full than Ive seen it since the KIngs Speech, - oh, and Les Miserables, which were also great.

I would quite like to see this film, but having seen the trailer, I didn't find Judi Dench's accent very convincing. I love Steve Coogan though - I liked him and Rob Brydon in "The Trip" on TV.

He was talking about that in the interview last night; in fact he came across as much more analytical and self deprecating than I'd imagined him to be [Mark Lawson is the best interviewer around imo]. I'd actually forgotten about earlier incarnations such as Paul Calfe [sp]. They didn't want to make 'The Trip', asking why anyone would want to watch a programme about them just talking to each other, but were eventually persuaded. I hadn't realised that he was involved in the making of the film, as well as acting in it. Hope to see it tonight.

I saw this film on Saturday. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it. I just went along as a friend wanted to see it. However, I really enjoyed it. The funny bits were very relevent and not out of place. It lightened what could have been a very weepy film. Judi Dench and Steven Coogan were brilliant in it. As other GNetters said, I had realised how good an actor he was.

Just back from seeing this, Steve C was really good, as was Judi D, but I feel a little disappointed overall.

So glad I'm an athiest though.

I've just watched an interview with Steve Coogan and Martin Sixsmith on youtube. They admitted that there was a lot of the book that wasn't in the
film but said it was due to having to condense so much into 90-odd minutes.
I have put the book on my pressie list.

Just got back from the cinema feeling incredibly angry and incredulous at the cruelty of those nuns. Glad I saw the interview with Steve Coogan last night because I'm so pleased that Steve Coogan has shown what a good actor he can be. I also thought Judi Dench was superb [I'm not her greatest fan ]. Not many films can make you laugh and cry so many times, but I didn't find it as powerful on the subject as 'Oranges and Sunshine' [but then this one had a lighter side to it]. Must check out that interview Katy. By the way; dumb question here but were the old cine films shown original or recreated?

Tegan, that's not a dumb question at all. Daughter and I think they are authentic, in other words they are the original, private home movies of the adopted boy and his family. I was just as angry.

Described in a review as 'real life super 8 footage', but surely the film of her son when he was really young isn't authentic? Will probably buy the dvd when it comes out as I'd like to see it again [and that will have the 'making of' stuff which will explain everything...hopefully]. I'm glad I didn't read up to much about the story before I saw the film. I left the cinema muttering lots of words beginning with 'f' under my breath .

It could be Tegan, I had a super 8 cine camera in the 60's and they had been around for some time. I think that's part of what was so horrifying - this happened in our lifetime not in the Victorian era. I had an Irish friend who would have been a bit older than Philomena when she became pregnant but she escaped the nuns and came to London to have her baby, she had to have him adopted and always hoped that they would find each other but it didn't happen. Thought it was a very good film and showed a side of Steve Coogan that I hadn't seen before,

Tegan I also avoided reading too much about it beforehand, and actually wasn't expecting there too be much more of a story than the obvious one. It's a good job we weren't in the same cinema, we'd have turned the air blue together on leaving.

It could be that the film of the young boy is authentic, he was adopted as say a 4 year old, and his new family took home movies from the time they adopted him...

But wasn't there film of him at the convent? Or, was that film taken from later and superimposed in some way. I really do need to see it again! The woman next to me was sobbing throughout the film. When I was in my late teens I worked with a girl that had had a baby adopted, and she said she'd look in prams whenever she walked past one, thinking it might her child . I'd like to think that they found each other again one day. If I buy the dvd and watch it with my daughter I think we'll set each other off and cry throughout the film. The more I think about it, and the more I realise how much Steve Coogan was involved in the writing and making of it the higher he goes up in my estimation [he might be in danger of becoming a national treasure, but also he may now be given the chance to show what he can really do, acting wise. Or maybe this film worked because he was tailor made for the role?]

Tegan I remain angry, it's the 'what might have been'. Knowing what they did about Philomena's son (they= those heartless nuns) there could have been a different outcome! and .
I've always liked Steve Coogan and think his power of observation enabled him to create some memorable characters!

I think I'll look at him in a different way now. Of course, a lot of the film was quite topical [and close to his heart] about where the media should draw the line when looking for 'a story'. This was a film of many levels, all of which it succeeded in. The more I think about it the more I realise how good it was. And, as someone said in a review, the way it was made means it will reach a much wider audience. Have you seen 'Oranges and Sunshine' OGM? If you 'enjoyed' [not quite the right word but can't think of the correct one] Philomena, you'd find it interesting. The church, yet again, doesn't come out of it very well.

I'm not sure if the footage was authentic. I went to a Catholic school and was taught by nuns. They were the same sort of order as those in the film.
My school was in this country and although I never heard of anything like Philomena and the other girls suffered, the nuns (some) could be pretty cruel and so could the priests.

Were any of these sadistic nuns ever brought to justice?

Particularly those in the Magdalena laundries who seemed to be so cruel to those poor unfortunate girls.

Disgraced priests have been brought to book - what about the nuns?

I don't know if any were ever brought to justice. It made me smile a few years ago when I found out that the nuns who taught us were called The Sisters of Charity. Very little charity to be seen in that school and church believe me.