The Magdalene Sisters (2004, DVD)

You don t hear the term Women s Lib much anymore. Opportunities and choices have expanded greatly for women in this country in the past fifty years and with progress, sometimes, comes apathy. We forget our past and take our future (and that of our daughters) for granted. This is a mistake, for we are only as strong as we are vigilant. Historically, women are the largest, most persistently and relentlessly persecuted group of people to ever exist. Almost no society is exempt from a past of barbaric oppression of half its population. Women have been treated as chattel, blamed for the ills of...

Margaret, while at a family member's wedding, is raped by her cousin. Bernadette, who is living in an orphanage, loves getting the attention of the boys passing by the courtyard. Rose, finds herself giving birth to a healthy son, much to her parents' dismay. The shame of those around them leads all three of them to be sent to the Magdalene Asylum, a Catholic-run "refuge" for those whose sins had shunned them from the outside world. The story follows the lives of these three girls (amongst others) as they try to adapt to their new lifestyle. All day is spent in a hot and humid room, scrubbing..

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...

I first encountered news of the Magdalene Asylums as part of a throwaway line in another film, where an Irish father bitterly states that he fears that his daughter will end up with the Magdalenes. After viewing this film, I can easily see why there's still continuing abuse in some sectors of the Catholic church. Set in the mid-1960's, we follow the stories of four young women who are caught up in the system, in a country that makes no allowances for unwed mothers, victims of rape, or even those who did nothing wrong, but were 'suspected' of immoral behavior. Margaret (Anne-Marie Duff) is at..