Denunciation Defied

Proving that a good bit of papal condemnation never does you any harm at the box office, Peter Mullan's hugely controversial The Magdalene Sisters has gone down a veritable storm in its catholic home country of Ireland leaving box office records smashed in its wake. Mullan's festival favourite revealing shocking abuse in Irish convents was roundly denounced by the Vatican as an "angry and rancorous provocation" but that hasn't stopped an amazing one in twenty of the Irish population running as quickly as they can to their nearest cinema to catch the movie. Rather than finding their reputation tarnished by a notorious albatross hanging around their neck, Irish distributors Eclipse Pictures are rubbing their hands together with glee, proudly announcing, "As the biggest Irish film in 2002, it is really holding its own against the Hollywood blockbusters, has generated unprecedented word of mouth and bodes well for the future of the Irish film industry." And what does the man behind all this furore think about this unexpected reaction? "I think a lot if it is because Ireland has changed so much in the past 10 to 15 years," Peter Mullan commented. "So maybe the time is right to stand back and take stock of what the country was formerly like."