The Magdalene Sisters (2004, DVD)

American Catholics, especially those who were raised in the Church after World War II, have talked about their experiences in that religion, and look back upon this upbringing with insight and humor. The Irish girls of "The Magdalene Sisters" lived a far more harrowing existence than any American Catholic - and there's no doubt that these girls were punished by the Church and by society far too harshly.

The story focuses on three girls who were sent there in mid-sixties Dublin for various "offenses." Margaret (Ann-Marie Duff) is sent there by her father after she is raped by a cousin. The orphaned Bernadette (Nora-Jane Noone) is transferred there after the local orphanage notices she's drawing the attention of the local boys. Rose (Dorothy Duffy) has shamed her parents by giving birth to a baby out of wedlock. Rose is coerced into putting up her son for adoption before she is sent away. All three arrive at the Magdalene convent on the same day, where head nun Sister Bridget (Geraldine McEwan) tells them that they're sinners who've been sent there to atone for their sins. Sister even forces Rose to refer to herself by her Confirmation name of Patricia. Their sentence is to spend long days at work in the Sisters' infamous laundry. The movie takes us on a five-year journey through the struggles of these girls.

It's quickly clear to see that atonement is, in some cases, a life sentence of hard labor. Many grown and older women still work there, such as Katie (Britta Smith), a laundry supervisor who tries to keep the younger women in line like the Sisters do. Katie, like the simple-minded Crispina (Eileen Walsh), have been convinced by the Sisters that they live every moment in sin. The local businesses who use the laundry service are convinced that the ladies who are sent there are easy women. Other folks believe that some of the residents are insane. Those who try and escape are dealt with severely with a haircut that is made to strip them of all vanity. Through all this, the Magdalenes see a tidy profit from their slave labor. The workers' reward is that they receive an orange and a viewing of "The Bells Of St. Mary's" for Christmas.

Margaret, Rose, and especially Bernadette, come to realize that they have little chance of ever leaving the convent. One tries to escape, but is caught. One briefly steps outside the grounds, only to step back inside when she knows she has nowhere to run. Another longs to contact the outside world, but she is denied and derided. Una (Mary Murray), a fellow resident, decides that since she since can't beat the Magdalenes, she'll simply join their order. Still, the main characters find a way to not let the Magdalenes break their spirit. Their protests of having done no wrong have fallen on the deaf ears of Sister Bridget. No amount of hard work or humiliation, though, makes them any less convinced of their innocence.

"The Magdalene Sisters" is a direct and disturbing movie from writer-director Peter Mullan which is made even more disturbing when it's made clear that the stories in this movie are based on fact. The ladies there are not treated as sinners - they're treated as prisoners. When they do leave the grounds as part of a May procession, they are surrounded by police. The Magdalenes also have a very basic public relations department. They stage an activities day, and have one of the priests film the day of fun with a home movie camera. None of the religious figures here is portrayed in a positive light. All are demanding and humiliating, like the two nuns who amuse themselves by making the girls strip and judging their assets. They don't care if the girls turn on one another. It's just a way for the nuns to find a snitch whom they can trust to keep their charges in line.

Mullan brings the harshness at the convent laundry to life in so many ways. They wear the same type of brown dress and underwear all day, and slip on a white nightgown when they go to bed. Groups of them share one bedroom, just like soldiers in basic training. The gloom in this movie is practically unrelenting, though Mullan does add a little humor later in the film. There's a scene where a priest blesses the new washers and dryers that the Magdalenes have purchased. One of the girls takes advantage of the new machinery to give the priest's vestments a touch of poison ivy from the convent's garden. Mullan also brings out the humanity in the film through the performances of his three young leads. Duff, Noone, and Duffy give fine performances as ladies who show their heart in very different ways. McEwan is just as good as the harsh and strict Sister Bridget. The most heartbreaking performance, though, comes from Walsh as the easily influenced Crispina, who eventually wishes to die. She is the embodiment of the cruelty of the life in the convent.

The laundries of the Magdalenes continued to exist in Ireland until the nineties. "The Magdalene Sisters" takes a hard look at the life lived inside their walls, and how they convinced many Catholics that they were doing the community and their residents a legitimate service. The movie exposes the order as hypocrites whose life was anything but impoverished. The nuns lived by virtually imprisoning women and reaping the benefits of their labors. "The Magdalene Sisters" tells its story without any shades of gray, telling us who the real sinners were. American books and movies have taken a look at Catholic life during the same time as this movies, but none of these works compares compares to conditions of the Magdalene laundry workers in Ireland. Compared to the launderers, young American Catholics, such as myself, lived a life of ease.