Film Review: Philomena (2013)

Philomena, released in 2013 and directed by Stephen Fears is based on the book of The Lost
Child of Philomena Lee. This is an intriguing and mysterious drama, centered on a main corruptive
event towards a tenderhearted woman.
Judi Dench plays Philomena, the main character. Steven Coogan plays Martin Sixsmith, a journalist
and writer, who guides Philomena in the solving of the mystery.
Philomena is a friendly but delusional woman, with enough wisdom to teach each and every other
character in the movie about life. At a young age, she was forced to live and work in a convent, and
give her son for adoption. Although the convent and all the nuns involved were corrupted,
Philomena keeps her faith solid, and decides to look for her son, and face reality, 50 years later.
The film uses flashbacks of Philomenas memories to provide the viewer with a solid background.
In one moment we are presented with Philomena as an elderly living with her daughter. The other
theres a sad and dark scene of Philomena doing laundry and crying for her son. There are also
moments of brightness and colorful on the flashbacks, when Philomena remembers meeting her
lover and father of her son Anthony.
Another form of emphasizing the emotional scenes of the story is the use of the non-diegetic
sounds. We hear sad and nostalgic music to describe the tragic scenes, and on the happiest
moments of Philomenas life, we hear cheerful and enthusiastic sounds.
One of the most peculiar aspects of the film is the age difference between the main characters who
bound. As each of the character belongs to a different generation with distinct moral beliefs, their
relationship is somewhat conflictuous. Philomena is haunted by her sin of having sexual relations as
a teen, and therefore betraying the Church. On the other hand, Martin is horrified and intolerant of
the nuns corruptive behaviors. Martin is opposed to Philomenas moral and religious values.
Sometimes its as if they live in different realities.
As for Martins negative attitudes, he may strike the viewer as a stuck-up man in the beginning.
However, as the story develops, you may realize hes only opiniative and honest, and his rational
attitude is also valuable in the solving of the mystery.
As for the themes content, the film deals with many problems such as corruption in the Christian
church, Homophobia, the disease of AIDS The corruption and the immoral behaviors in the
convent make us dubious of religion, just like the character Martin, who also contributes with his
arguments.
Philomena is a strong movie in many aspects. It is strong in the issues involved, strong in the
performances of the characters, and it is a strong narrative thoroughly. The only question is whether
the reader is apt for such a hot-blooded plot, and touching outcome.

Words: 470 words

Student: Catarina Galhofa
Student Number: 52539