Rating: 
Summary: riveting docudrama
Review: Sort of the dark side of "The Trouble With Angels," "The Magdalene Sisters" provides a harrowing true-life account of three young girls who are shipped off to an institution for "wayward" girls, a place that turns out to be little more than a hellish prison run by an order of sadistic nuns. We are informed at the end of the film that more than 30,000 girls were sent to these "Magdalene laundries" before they were finally shut down in 1996. The film, set in1960's Ireland, is yet another stinging indictment of religious fanaticism run amok. The three youngsters who are the story's focus are Margaret, a girl who is raped by her own cousin; Bernadette, a pretty girl who flirts a little too obviously with the boys hanging around the orphanage where she lives; and Rose, a young woman who had the misfortune of producing a child out of wedlock. For their "crimes," all three girls are spirited away and deposited in this religious hellhole, where for many years they are forced to perform ceaseless labor, are abused both physically and psychologically, and are deprived of compassion, freedom and hope. Writer/director Peter Mullan approaches his subject matter with unwavering bluntness, not fearing to point the finger of blame exactly where it belongs - on the Catholic Church hierarchy who allowed this sort of unenlightened sadism to go on in the name of Jesus and religion. Not surprisingly, the Catholic Church did not want this film to be either made or distributed. For that reason alone, the movie demands to be seen. In a way, "The Magdalene Sisters" isn't as much a character study as it is a docudrama chronicling the abuses the girls are forced to undergo. Despite excellent performances from all the actresses involved, we don't get to know much about each of their characters as individuals other than the fact they suffer unendurably. Bernadette is probably the most fully developed of the three, but the polemical nature of the film precludes our getting to know really too much about her (or the others). As the camp commandant - er I mean Mother Superior - Geraldine McEwen is chillingly brilliant, turning her character into an implacable tower of authority, a petty dictator ruling over the lives of her helpless charges. "The Magdalene Sisters" functions as a much needed expose of this kind of institutionalized abuse which we can assume still goes on in many places and in many forms in the world today. Watching this film is both an eye-opening and a mind-expanding experience.
Rating: 
Summary: Good movie but: A misrepresention of the Catholic Church.
Review: Excellent production. Great story line. Unfortunately, this DVD paints a misrepresentation of the Catholic Church. It must be noted that the harsh treatment of children was common to the secular orphanages as well. Discipline was essential to the survival of the culture. World WarII had ended only a few years before this story. I'm not sure that our culture could defeat dictators like Hitler and Stalin these days. Discipline was a matter of national survival. Inexcusably, abuse did occur in some catholic orphanages as well but is not exclusive to the Church. The culture of the times was that children were to be "seen and not heard." This is just the way it was. Interesting how in those days, children were relatively respectful and well behaved and society was generally better off despite some social ills such as racial discrimination. Now, many of our schools are full of drugs, guns, gangs, sexually transmitted disease and single teenage mothers. I cannot help but to wonder if things would be better if things were somewhere in the middle. Children should be respected and treated with dignity if their behavior warrants it. Some of the little monsters running the streets these days that rob, steal and rape could use some of that "good old fashioned discipline".
Rating: 
Summary: What happens when churches have political clout
Review: If a gang of Irish agnostics had been openly kidnapping young women, locking them up somewhere, degrading and abusing them, and forcing them to spend their lives as slaves, they would have quickly been stopped and prosecuted. However, because this was being done by the church to which almost everybody belonged, the church which was intertwined with the Irish state like a malignant tumor wrapped around a spinal cord, the perpetrators of this horror got away with it for decades. I just finished watching this movie, and I am still shaking with rage. I am a refugee from a different religious tradition, but one no less arrogant and cruel. My friends whose experience with religion is of some timid, milquetoast variety are bewildered by my tendency to go straight into global thermonuclear war when someone gets in my face about god. I want them to see this. Anyone who thinks a government based on religious faith is a good idea needs to see this. Trust me, people who think they represent some god can be the biggest sadists of all.
Rating:
Summary: Some of the suffering resulting from patriarchy
Review: An extraordinary film not to be missed by lover's of serious drama. It is a tragic and heartbreaking story of gross injustice against women in Ireland. During the 1900s as many as 30,000 women may have endured mistreatment similar to that depicted in this film before the last Magdalene Asylum closed in 1996. One question to ask yourself while watching the film; Why were the men not blamed and punished too? The answer has to do with the inequity of patriarchy. (...) It tells the true stories of the four women portrayed in the movie and includes interviews with each of them.
Rating:
Summary: Real Lives Of Irish Catholic Girls
Review: As if there are not enough indictments against the Catholic Church recently, here comes another heady story about young Irish women who are considered 'wayward'. However, it is a story that needs to be told. It focuses on three girls who are sent to the Magdalene asylum. Some are sent there pregnant and some are sent simply because they are attractive and might become pregnant. What is more amazing is that although this story takes place in the early 1960's, the asylum was not abolished until 1996. The story line follows the typical drudgery filled days of heavy laundry labor and constant silence and atonement. All the actors are superb and the setting is pure dreariness set against the occasional glimpse of the beautiful Irish countryside just outside the doors. The main actresses vary in their manner and tolerance beset against unbelievably cruel and sadistic nuns. Emotional beratement, humiliation and severe beatings are regular occurrences and only the strongest of the women survive - and even then, that is another story. The final fate of one of the more 'slower' girls is beyond heart breaking. Note: Language and full nudity accent the reality of the film. Accompanying this DVD is a fantastic documentary called, "Sex On A Cold Climate", with commentaries from survivors of the asylum. All much older now, they retell the stories with vivid memories and the obvious angst that these are memories they can never forget. It's remarkable as well as unsettling.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing story - but don't miss the documentary on this DVD..
Review: ..with interviews of the victims of the Church. In a way, the documentary (Sex in a Cold Country) is even more shocking than the dramatization because it demolishes any notion that the story might have been overplayed. Shocking tale. Not to be missed; be sure to find the documentary under "Special Features" !!
Rating:
Summary: It is the 1960's, not the 1860's
Review: I suggest watching the documentary before watching the movie, as it explains the society that created the Magdalene laundries. While the end credits state it is fiction, the documentary makes it easy to see the human face of the four women depicted and their stories of horrors in the system. This was a product of sexual repression and an all powerful church that felt they were acting in the best interests of the 'fallen ones'. Even perhaps harder to believe is that the system was still active into the middle 1990's.
Some of the faces of the actress will stay with one a long time, and the Mother Superior was finely acted in a way that one felt she really thought she was acting in the best interests of the girls. The Irish accent was a bit hard to follow at first, but soon was easy to follow. This is not a 'woman-in-prison' movie, as those type of movies have a pretext of a crime or wrong doing. Being thought of becoming a flirt is not something that should result in a sentence of hard labor. This is a story of unquestioned obedience to a Church which rules a society and what can happen. The DVD is an excellent way of viewing this movie, as one can pause it and allow ones emotions to calm down, as watching this movie cannot allow one to be passive at the situations depicted. The epilogue at the end is an excellent way of wrapping up the four stories and for the one who remained faithful to the Church says a great deal of how the Church influenced that society. This is a strong movie with good performances.
Rating:
Summary: The Sisters of Mercy showed none
Review: While the end credits indicates the movie is fiction, the documentary makes it rather clear who they patterned the movie after. This is a very strong movie, and I suggest viewing the documentary before viewing the movie to give context to the times and events of the movie. One might think this was set in 1860's's rather than 1960 and that the last laundry did not close until the mid 1990's is terrifying.
This movie is both an indictment of a Church system and a sexual repression by a society.
Nora Jane Doone has haunting eyes and her terrible offense that put her in the institution was being attractive. The acting is quite touching and one will be moved to feel many emotions over the scenes shown. This movie grips one and sometimes with the force of a sledgehammer. I am sure many of the Nuns felt they were acting the best interests of the 'fallen' girls and the Mother Superior does a fantastic role as such. You may look upon faith based initiatives in a whole new light after seeing this film. I am very pleased it is on DVD, so I could pause it and allow my feelings to come back to normal as this movie will touch a lot of nerves. The epilogue is a great feature of the film to wrap things up.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to believe it's all true-but it really is!
Review: One of the best movies I ever seen regarding the Catholic church and its maze of cover ups and scandal. In fact, the Magdalene asylums were not institutions of charity, but quite literally SLAVE CAMPS--yes slavery--and the masters were horrible sick perverted sadistic individuals dressed in nun and priest outfits. If you watch this movie, you will become VERY ANGRY with the catholic church, and I sincerely hope these victims of slavery will sue the catholic church for violations of human rights. I thought slavery has been outlawed, and please note these slave camps have been open since the 1800's until *1996.* Wow!-Over a century of forced slavery. (...) The Catholic government of Ireland made the people live under ignorance and dogmatic hipocracy-birth control and sex education outlawed, yet thousands got pregnant and incarcerated in these slave camps whilst their baby stolen from them-against their will! Men were not punished for rape, and the women were blamed and told they were evil, and were to be punished. The entire film makes you VERY angry with such abuse, and thank God this scandal is brought out to the public.
This movie is an absolute must see.
Rating:
Summary: The Magdalene Sisters-Two thumbs up!!
Review: This is a great theatrical piece of art. I was astaunished by how the film captured every bit of detail of each and every main character in the movie. The acting in the film was also outstanding.
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