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Seeing Philomena on Mother's Day accentuates its beauty and emotionality.
The multi-Academy Award-nominated film had been playing in Midtown Manhattan's Paris theatre for months yet I only just saw it at home with two mommies. For 50 years, Philomena Lee (Judi Dench) never told anyone outside of her home abbey that she had a son out of wedlock. Per her daughter's suggestion, Philomena shares her story and desire to find her lost son with recently resigned journalist Martin Sixsmith. The true journey of finding him meandered, educating characters on adaptability and how clues segue into solutions. Both Dench and Coogan, who also co-wrote the script, acted convincingly well. The saddening theme reminds viewers of The Magdalene Sisters, which similarly depicts single Catholic mothers forced into laundry labor and whose children were taken from them. Despite her family and friends having shunned her, Philomena retains her faith and feisty personality.
"I loved the sex," she said while recounting her first time amid Ireland's luscious countryside. "I thought anything that feels so lovely must be wrong."
Wrong in some eyes, however not in Sixsmith's or viewers who finally learned what she endured. Despite her hardships, Philomena has a way with words and nicely putting people in their place. Journalists notoriously squeeze quotes out of sources and get anyone to go on the record. When Philomena and Martin travel across the pond in search of her lost son Anthony (who we later find out was named Michael Hess), she gets more information out of Hess' friends than anyone else. The dynamic between the search team is complementary and charming: Philomena provides excitement and naiveness; Martin always investigates and draws accurate conclusions that calm Philomena down.
Characters' ability to make lemonade out of lemons evoke many emotions. Most people would scold someone who withheld life-changing information from them. Philomena takes other course of action.
"I forgive you," she said to the nun who knew how to connect Philomena with her son.
There's so much anger and vulnerability in this one scene. War ends before it starts. Closure has been found. Long lost loved ones may or may not have reunited. Viewers cannot fathom how much pain Philomena Lee copes with to this day and her unique aptitude for forgiveness. This past winter, she met Pope Francis and attended the 86th Annual Academy Awards. - LIZ KOBAK