Magdalene
Sister’s Essay
Film Review
The “Magdalene Sister’s” is a historically based film directed
by Peter Mullen in 2002. It is based on Ireland’s tragic history of the
Magdalene Convents which were maintained by the
Catholic Church. These were institutions for “fallen” women who were sent away and thought to be a moral danger to themselves and others. Here the
indefinitely imprisoned women were sent to work in the laundries.
The film tells the story of three women. Margaret (Anne-Marie Duff), a young woman who reported being raped and she was then treated
like the criminal. Patricia, who was then given the name Rose at the Convent (Dorothy Duffy) a young woman who had a “bastard child”, a child out of wedlock
to the horror and shame of her parents, and Bernadette (Nora-Jane Noone), a beautiful young girl still attending
boarding school who received too much attention from men and was believed to be
a “temptress”. All of these young women were cast away to the Magdalene
Convent. Banished by their families because they were ashamed, these young
women had no home to return too. Once at the convent they were introduced to
the cruel sadistic head of the Convent, Sister Bridget (Geraldine McEwan).
They were sent there to “cleans their souls and bring them
closer to Jesus”. The nuns believed through hard work you can cleans yourself
of your sins, but the Convent acted as more
of a work house that leaves it’s women physically and emotionally drained and
mentally damaged.
Throughout the film the women in the Convent suffered from
continuous beatings. In one scene, a young woman who managed to escape , ran
home only to be beaten by her father and dragged back to the convent, despite
the girls painful screams “ I hate it here”, “I just want to come home Dad”, the
only response she was given was to be beaten once again by her father’s belt.
Sister Bridget only looks on waiting for the punishment to end. Once the ordeal
is over Sister Bridget sadistically says in a chilling manner “see you in the
morning”, indicating that the young woman’s punishment was not yet finished.
That morning all her hair was cut off.
A very disturbing scene was when the women had to prance around
naked in single file. The nuns were looking on and laughing at them and playing
games by comparing and insulting the women’s bodies. The sadistic nature of the
nuns leaves the women emotionally drained and humiliated. It is clear from
these scenes the institutional cruelty the women went
through. In a particular scene, Margaret had the
opportunity to escape and was outside the Convent but she decided turn back
inside. I found this scene very powerful. Due to the fact the women were so institutionalised,
out of fear and constantly being beaten and trained by the nuns, the women
learn to accept their fate and realise they were considered outcasts in the
world outside the Convent.
Overall this film is very powerful in evoking an emotional
response from the viewer. Mullen created a piece in the credits describing what
happened to the main characters afterwards. This gives a chilling realisation
that the characters were in fact based on the stories of actual women in the
Convent. This film even caused great dispute with religious societies. Mullen
brought Ireland’s tragic history out of the shadows with this film and making
sure these women’s stories were told.
Exhibition Review
Evelyn Glynn exhibition “Breaking the
rule of Silence” was held in the Limerick College of Art and Design. This exhibition
features a selection of drawings, sound and video installations, photography
and an archival website that contains three years of research that gives an insight
into the Magdalene laundry and the lives of the women incarcerated there.
The College of Art and Design was originally a Magdalene Laundry.
Evelyn used the building itself for her exhibition. Using the historic elements
and comparing them to the modern, allowing the viewers to see how the building
was before becoming a college.
There were a few pieces that stood out the most for me. Rubbings
of the shower wall, these were drawn from the original showers by the orphanage
and hung in such a way that resembled a washing line. It was placed near a
doorway so that every time the door opened these drawings would sway slightly.
This piece indicates the relationship between the Magdalene laundries and the
orphanage, mothers who could never see their children. The fact that the
drawings are rubbings of an actual piece of history makes the piece far more
emotive. Another of my favourite pieces was the beautifully drawn spiral
staircase. These pieces were to scale and placed in the area were the original
spiral staircase once stood. These stairs lead to the attic to the dorms of the
women workers. Now that the stairs have been removed it is as if history has
been locked away in the attic. Evelyn not only brings back the original
historic design but it is also as if she is trying to lead the viewer to
revealing history that is hidden in the college walls. The piece with the
statue of the Saint has a great metaphoric meaning. The statue was the original
statue in the orphanage that depicts the saint that protects children. The
statue was in a filthy condition and covered in pigeon droppings. Rather than
cleaning the statue, Evelyn placed it in the reception area of the college to
be viewed by all. To me this piece screams out that the children were not
protected but in fact treated quite cruelly.
Evelyn’s intention of this exhibition was not to attack religion
by revealing it dark secrets but to reveal the history that has been hidden for
so long by the Catholic Church and making sure the women who suffered or even
died in the Convent should be recognised and making sure the historic qualities
of the building were preserved and she did this by expressing it in the best
way she could, through her art.
Reflections on the
digital project
As a studio group we decided to do a digital project based on
our Magdalene Convent theme. We each contributed our own work to the project.
We started off by being influenced by a photograph of stairs by a previous
student. As a result I took various photographs of different types of stairs. I
did this by taking photographs at different angles of the stairs and trying to
give an interesting perspective on something that many would consider just
boring stairs. I also did quick sketches of stairs in the College; by doing
this it makes my contribution more personal. I also tried a little experiment. I
placed my jacket on the stairs and stood back and observed from a distance.
Anyone using the stairs simply moved around it making sure to avoid this object
in their path. After a few minutes I was beginning to lose interest, till
eventually a woman picked up the jacket and placed it on the railings. This
shows in our society many people avoid what is not theirs in fear of
confrontation perhaps. Also placing clothing on the stairs can have a metaphoric
meaning, perhaps a laundry worker dropped some laundry on her every day journey
on the stairs.
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