Every day, AlloCiné recommends a film to (re)watch on TV. Tonight: a poignant drama about maternal love.
Among the little gems of emotion little known to the general public, there is this biopic which pays tribute to a sacrificed mother: Philomena Lee. For fifty years, this Irish woman carried a heavy secret that director Stephen Frears wanted to make known.
Released in cinemas in 2017, Philomena tells the poignant story of a woman separated from her child. The plot, adapted from a true story, takes place in Ireland, the year 1952. Philomena Lee, a teenager, becomes pregnant. But rejected by her family, she is sent to a convent.
In compensation for the care provided by the nuns before and during the birth, the mother-to-be works in the laundry, and is only allowed to see her child, Anthony, for one hour a day. At the age of three, the latter was taken from him to be adopted by Americans. For years, Philomena will try to find him.
Fifty years later, when she has lost all hope of finding her child, she meets the journalist Martin Sixmith. She decides to tell him her story, and he persuades her to accompany him to the United States in search of his son, Anthony.
To bring this sacrificed mother to the screen, the director who won the Caesar for his feature film Dangerous Liaisons chose a great British actress, Judi Dench (known for her role as M in the James Bond saga). Martin Sixmith is played on screen by Steve Coogan, awarded for his performance in Stan & Ollie by Jon S. Baird.
Twelve times nominated… but too underestimated
Philomena is the adaptation of the eponymous novel written by Martin Sixsmith and inspired by his own experiences. And although this feature film is directed by Stephen Frearsit is indeed the actor Steven Coogan who had the idea of adapting this story for the screen.
This desire came to him after he read an interview with Martin Sixsmithand saw a photo of the latter alongside Philomena: “I was struck by (…) the improbable duo they formed”, before specifying these words: “It is also this photo which inspired the main poster of the film and numerous promotional visuals”.
And the least we can say is that this adaptation leaves a large number of spectators speechless. AlloCiné internet users have also given it an honorable rating of 4.1 out of 5, and the national media have given it 3.8 out of 5.
That's not all, Philomena was also nominated four times for the Oscars, three times for the Golden Globes, twice for the Venice Film Festival, and was even voted Best Adapted Screenplay at the BAFTA Awards. Just that!
However, to this day, Philomena remains too little known to the general public. In France, it only made 673,554 entries at the box office. But rest assured, it's not too late to discover this rare gem on screen…
Tonight on Arte at 9:00 p.m.
