Philomena (2013)

Films such as The Magdelene Sisters (2002) gave us an introduction and insight to the cruel culture of Ireland during the 20^th century up to and including the 1970’s whereby pregnant unmarried girls were removed from their community and placed in convent run laundries. Until the stories began to be exposed in recent years, this picture of pregnancy being seen as a terrible sin requiring God’s punishment, was unknown to everyone outside of Ireland. How could you challenge or criticise sisters of charity for their support of unmarried mothers? Especially when you could not see what the regime was like or see what happened to their children.

What in fact they were doing was keeping young women captive and forcing them to work in commercial size laundries while their babies were being nurtured and prepared for adoption – in some cases in return for big money.

Philomena comes into this genre of storytelling from the point of an ageing woman who is now a grandparent and who in the 1950’s had been placed into such a convent laundry after becoming pregnant. Her mother had died and there was nobody to care for her and a baby. The convent sisters will now regard her as having “fallen” pregnant and will ensure that she will be judged accordingly. “Did you take your nickers down, girl?”

We come into the story after Philomena’s daughter has met ex BBC news reporter Martin Sixsmith at a social function. He is offered the chance to take an interest in Philomena’s story on the day that her daughter had discovered that her mother had given birth to a boy fifty years ago to the day, who at the age of three had been removed and given to an American couple for adoption. Would Sixsmith write a human interest story about her mother and her lost boy? The only way in which he could agree would be to find out what happened to him. This will take them to America.

The story is driven by the two central characters, Philomena who is played by Judi Dench and Sixsmith who is played by Steve Coogan. Both put in non-competing performances which deliver emotional scenes of anger and depression in the story climax. The early scenes are developed around a warm and caring relationship with wry humour as a mortar for their characters. Philomena has a dry, caring and forgiving nature founded on her Catholic faith. Coogan plays his part with alarming straightness, only once maybe showing a tiny glimpse of his earlier Alan Partridge days. The combination of Philomena’s forgiveness, tempered by doubt which frequently helps to change her mind and make quick turnaround decisions, and Sixsmith’s frustration driven by his determination to seek the truth, delivers the perfect story.

At one point in the story we discover what actually happened to Philomena’s (now adult) son and we wonder where the story will now go. However, the point of the film and this story is in the ending,  where confrontation to expose the truth leads to resolution and from Philomena, forgiveness.

“She might forgive you”, says Sixsmith, “…..but I can’t”.

Captain Phillips (2013)

We know that the world is changing and that this story will lead to an event of extreme danger. We know this because Captain Phillips tells his wife in the opening scene that the world is changing as they drive in heavy traffic to the docks to board his new ship. The drive on the motorway has echoes of the opening scene in Falling Down where Michael Douglas’s character is seen abandoning his car.

Abandonment is the last thing Captain Phillips has on his mind when Somali pirates, poor fishermen press ganged into kidnapping big ships for big money, board his ship.

The filming of the action is dramatically authentic and this is especially so in the first half of the film when the ship is chased by small speed boats and – even when the hoses are turned on full pressure all around the vessel and rapid course changes are made to out manoeuvre them – the pirates risk their lives in getting a ladder hooked onto the side and they board the ship.

The capture of the ship and the subsequent escape by the pirates with a hostage (no spoilers!) dominates the story narrative. The characterisation, particularly of the Captain and the pirate leader, Muse, is delivered in sweat and blood by Tom Hanks and Barkhad Abdi.

From setting the scene initially on a massive container ship, progressing to a tiny motorised life boat is a stroke of genius. The camera work is tight and this ratchets up the tension. To then make certain that we are under no illusion that the story is taking place at sea in the middle of a vast ocean – we see images of the sky leading down to the horizon and then the ocean, ending in aerial shots of whatever vessels are in the action. This is not innovative camera work – just skilful. Showing us, not telling us.

This camera technique is put to excellent use at the end when we get to realise that the US is not going to allow Captain Phillips to be kidnapped and sends out what seems to be a significant percentage of its naval fleet plus a platoon of navy SEALS.

Tom Hanks performance as a seasoned merchant shipping master is remarkable for its measured delivery. This is not one of his stereotypical, treacly big movie roles. This is an actor performing at the top of his craft and career. As Phillips, his leadership skills are put to the test when he congratulates his crew for fending off the pirates and their response is to remind him that as union members they are not contracted to defend the ship against pirates in the way he is asking them to. This is a do or die moment which he ably deals with, knowing that, by being at sea, he has the upper hand.

This is a roller coaster of a film gripping the audience from beginning to end, in true naval fashion requiring a stiff drink afterwards.