This movie was available on the plane on my recent trip, but I wanted to save it for the cinema, when I would have people to talk to about it afterwards. I’m glad I did. When I read the book, I wondered how a novella of such interiority could be depicted on the screen. The answer is simply Cillian Murphy, who is absolutely brilliant. As is Emily Watson, who plays the Mother Superior, with such menace below her icy exterior. The film depicted his anguish more as a breakdown than in the book, but I guess that film, by its nature, encourages visual representation of inner pain rather than internal dialogue, as occurs in a book. The sound was very well done too, although to be honest I could barely understand a word they said and found myself craving subtitles (I think I have been spoiled by subtitles). But in terms of reflecting his inner torment, and the stultifying presence of the Church, the sound was excellent. As with The Quiet Girl, it was a movie that had so many levels, and such poignancy, with an ending left ambiguous and yet satisfying at the same time.
Five stars from me.
The Resident Judge of Port Phillip 