THE MAGDALENE SISTERS
by Peter Mullan
synopsis
The Magdalene Asylums in Ireland were run by the Sisters of Mercy on behalf of the Catholic Church. Young girls were sent there by families or orphanages and once there, were imprisoned and sent to work in the laundries where they could atone for their sins. Their sins varied from being unmarried mothers to being too pretty, too ugly, simple minded, too clever or being a victim of rape and talking about it. And for their sins they worked 364 days a year unpaid, they were half starved, beaten, humiliated, raped, their children forcibly removed from them. Their sentence was indefinite. Thousands of women lived and died there. The last Magdalene Asylum in Ireland closed in 1996.
international title: | The Magdalene Sisters |
original title: | The Magdalene Sisters |
country: | United Kingdom, Ireland |
sales agent: | Goodfellas |
year: | 2002 |
genre: | fiction |
directed by: | Peter Mullan |
film run: | 119' |
release date: | DK 31/07/2003, NO 11/04/2003, NL 03/04/2003, ES 07/03/2003, UK 21/02/2003, GR 14/02/2003, FR 05/02/2003, BE 05/02/2003, DE 09/01/2003, IE 25/10/2002, IT 30/08/2002, HU 19/09/2003, PL 10/10/2003 |
screenplay: | Peter Mullan |
cast: | Geraldine McEwan, Eileen Walsh, Anne-Marie Duff, Nora-Jane Noone, Dorothy Duffy |
cinematography by: | Nigel Willoughby |
film editing: | Colin Monie |
art director: | Mark Leese |
costumes designer: | Trisha Biggar |
music: | Craig Armstrong |
producer: | Frances Higson |
production: | P.F.P. Films Ltd, Element Pictures |
distributor: | Momentum Pictures, Lucky Red, Mars Films Distribution, Eclypse Pictures/Momentum Pictures (IE), Paradiso Entertainment (NL), Alta Films (ES), Concorde (DE), SF Film (DK), Budapest Film (HU), SPI International (PL) |