Since the Toronto Film Festival I’ve explained two or three times that I’m not the biggest fan of Stephen Frears‘ Philomena. My argument isn’t so much with the film, which is based on Martin Sixsmith‘s “The Lost Child of Philomena Lee,” as with the ethical stance taken by Judi Dench‘s Philomena character at the finale. I was enraged when she berated Steve Coogan‘s Sixsmith character for behaving in a feisty and judgmental way, and even angrier when she forgave the aging Irish nun who had kept her in the dark about the whereabouts of her put-up-for-adoption son, and likewise kept her son from learning the whereabouts of his mother when he returned to Ireland to find her.
Judi Dench (l.) and Philomena Lee (r.) at some lah-lah screening for Philomena in London or Toronto or New York or wherever.
To me the latter act was no different than a Chilean widow forgiving Augusto Pinochet for having murdered her son or husband in the wake of the 1973 coup against Salvador Allende.
I nonetheless agreed to speak yesterday to the real Philomena Lee, who is currently visiting Los Angeles on a promotional tour to help the film’s Oscar chances. Right off the top I felt myself warming to Philomena’s voice and manner, which is gentle and unassuming. I began by sharing my feelings about the film’s finale, and we progressed from there. We spoke about this and that for 34 minutes, and by the time we finished I felt much closer to Ms. Lee than to the film. Go figure. I still have issues with Frears and Coogan, but Philomena is a gracious lady and a pleasure to talk to.