We went to see the film Small Things Like These last week. It’s based on Claire Keegan’s little book of 114 pages. Every word matters.

There is space for reflection and this is also an important feature of the film starring Cillian Murphy. It brings our difficult social history around mothers and babies, Magdalene laundries and religious dominance into sharp focus.

Both Tim and I had read the book and Cillian’s performance was powerful. I felt the tension building within me in empathy as he deftly portrayed the inner turmoil of the character Bill Furlong, a compassionate and hardworking coal man. He communicated with the audience expertly, despite having few words.

The film is set in 1985. Was it a true reflection of that time is a question that is being asked? I believe that it is.

A broad sweep of the country reflects that some areas suffered more poverty than others. That means that people of a similar age and circumstances might have different memories. Those of us that lived through that time were ignorant of the complexities of the society that we were growing up in.

Magdalene laundries

At that time, Tim and I were married. We’d built our own house. Interest rates were high. We were both working and content, looking forward to the birth of our first child.

We were unaware that pregnant, unwed girls could be put into a mother and baby home where their babies either died or were put up for adoption. Many went working in the Magdalene laundries.

This film portrays a side of this whole difficult saga that is not usually highlighted. Not all men were without conscience.

As Bill Furlong used to take coal to the convent, he was aware that something was not right. One day he happened upon Sarah, a young teenage girl in the coal shed. He leads her back to the front door of the convent. Bill is put in his place quite quickly by the reverend mother.

At a later date, a Christmas gift is proffered for his wife, Eileen. It is made clear that secrecy is required for there to be a place in the convent school for his girls. He is desperate to help Sarah. It almost leads him to having a nervous breakdown as he grapples with his inner turmoil.

He is conflicted because Eileen is willing to ignore the plight of the girls in the convent. Bill asks her “what if it was our girls Eileen?” She answers that “they are not our girls.” They have five daughters. Life goes on and the small truck trundles across the bridge before dawn on the delivery round.

I can’t get that truck out of my mind along with his coal stained hands that need constant washing. It’s the drudgery of near poverty and the responsibility he feels to do the right thing.

His mother was also named Sarah and she too was an unmarried mother but she got lucky and was invited to stay in a big house. An irony in itself. Bill is very aware how this changed his life.

Challenged

Cillian Murphy was interviewed by Brendan O’Connor on RTÉ 1 last Sunday. He said that “the work of a film is never complete until the audience has seen it.” He also said that the real drama only starts when the film ends. He is correct. We are left with so many questions.

Tim and I have discussed it several times since. We have been challenged by the film and I believe that constitutes a good film. Over 56,000 women were sent to Magdalene Laundries and the last mother and baby home closed in 1996.

Take a moment to take that in.