
The first time that I learned of the film Stolen directed by Margo Harkin was to be released in the year 2023 made me initially apprehensive and confused as to its necessity. That was because the subject of this piece was the Magdalene Laundries those institutions in Ireland run by the Catholic Church for fallen women which became a national scandal. However, I knew that Peter Mullan had already brought the horror of the laundries into people’s homes with his winning drama The Magdalene Sisters in 2002 and that in 2013 it was followed by Judi Dench in a much more personal drama of a similar nature, Philomena which I presumed would make it difficult for any other production to address the issue. However, I was incredibly surprised and excited to see that Stolen was one of the most powerful films I have seen in a long time demonstrating raw human emotion that left a greater impact on me than the two such films did previously.
Even though I understood that Small Things Like These was yet another work concerned with this subject it was nonetheless one that was both tantalizing and longing as it brought something fresh to the whole discussion.
At the Berlin International Film Festival it had won a best supporting performance award for Emily Watson and subsequent reviews had contained huge acclaim for Cillian Murphy its lead actor. Furthermore, the film was an adaptation by Enda Walsh of a highly praised novella by Claire Keegan and I recalled that it was she who had written the piece which became that fine Irish film 2022’s The Quiet Girl. Beyond that, I gathered that the approach this time was quite different thereby minimizing the risk of uncontrolled repetition Once again.
In my view, Cillian Murphy was the main force in the realization of this film and what has been accomplished is a piece that features quite a number of commendable performances (including those of Eileen Walsh and Louis Kirwar) and is distinguished by the beautifully captivating cinematography by Frank van den Eeden. There can be no doubt but that the Belgian Director Tim Mielants and all those involved in this film were totally committed. Yet I felt frustrated by what I saw in the film itself.
Most of those who go looking for Small Things Like These will know it has in some way to do with the Magdalene Laundries which is something that does shape one’s expectations.
However, what is new here is to look at the situation from the perspective of the other residents of the town in which most of the action takes place, New Ross Wexford County. But to do that in a feature length film poses problems that did not exist in the original book which was only 128 pages long. It was early on in the film that Murphy’s character Bill Furlong a coal merchant is going about his humdrum business. Murphy’s character tumultuously witnesses a girl in distress being hustled into the premises of a convent. Instead of this scene advancing the plot involving the difficulties wedged into the theme, this micro in time turns out to be the last one till another girl pops up. Where the first scene degenerates into a character sketch with a voice-over fitting for a mute where Mary married to one of five daughters and economically active in that era managed to have fun.
He seems of late to have become quiet and anxious, says Eileen but this is exactly confirmed beyond doubt in Murphy’s astonishingly interior portrayal where even the expressions on the face count more than the words.
The pictures of Bill’s domestic situations work with a high degree of verisimilitude but still, as you have been presented with quite a lot of what we have of his existence has only a restricted appeal. I say that because not only do we intend to learn more regarding the Magdalene Laundries, but also due to the fact that the depiction of Bill often resorts to flashback interpretation techniques that cut into this narrative. The flashbacks are brought in some fifty seeds at various points and often at the most inopportune times. For example, young Bill’s landlady, Mrs Wilson, played by Michelle Fairley simply pops out of nowhere. Yes, there is a story of Bill being bullied but they come out in a manner that does not always make a correlation in the normal sequence. Hence their pull and their capacity to engross us and enthrall us in his narrative is absent.
This is flattering or rather one sensitive to the melodramatic tendencies and goes so much into praise that it speaks highly of the restraint often exercised in its identifiable characters. But there is so much restraint in the tone of the narrative that it also requires some more grip and continuity to keep us interested in the gradual impact on Bill of Events more suggested than seen.
The film seems to pick up dramatically when Bill is confronted with the ugly treatment of girls and when he comes quite directly face to face with Sister Mary who is also known as Watson but alas at this point only the confrontation scene works biographically and dramatically for this investigation. However, even in this case, Bill and Sister Mary’s confrontation stands out above the other scenes. In this scene, Sister Mary tries to convince Bill to back off because she claims she can influence the education of his younger daughters. Ms. Watson conveys with great control of the nuances the callousness of the action is all there but it is not overdone. This meant that one had incredibly high expectations from the rest of the film above and beyond this already excruciatingly memorable scene. The end as well is disappointing but for the opposite reason. Here is a film that offers what is presumed to be a favorable conclusion but then cuts off in the middle of an action where things can only go badly for the central character Mr. Bill and he just ignores everything. There is of course nothing wrong in how the film attempts to construct its version of history society under stress, people looking away from the uncomfortable reality including Eileen, everything resonates with the German experience of the Holocaust far too closely.
However, not having read this widely praised book I can only presuppose that its structure, particularly the fact that it is short, contributed to the narrative being better told.
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