Cillian Murphy confronts Ireland's troubled history in his latest release
During the Covid-19 lockdown, Cillian Murphy encountered the celebrated Irish novel "Small Things Like These," and was profoundly moved by its narrative. However, it was his wife, Yvonne McGuinness, who proposed transforming the tale of one man's confrontation with ecclesiastical injustice into a cinematic endeavor.
Murphy took on both production and lead acting roles in the film adaptation of Claire Keegan's Booker Prize-nominated work. The story navigates Ireland's Magdalene laundries—grim institutions run by the Catholic Church where unmarried pregnant women were confined and coerced into clandestine childbirth.
Although the novel "lingered with me for a considerable time," Murphy confessed to CNN that initially, he did not envisage it as a film prospect. Yet, spurred by his wife's suggestion, he contacted previous collaborators, including screenwriter and playwright Enda Walsh and Peaky Blinders director Tim Mielants, to delve into what he describes as "a collective trauma" that Ireland is "still grappling with."
Set in the 1980s, Murphy portrays Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and father of five daughters in a quaint Irish town. "We encounter him at a juncture in life marked by profound emotional upheaval. It seems he's enduring some form of crisis," Murphy conveyed to CNN. "And then there's this oppressive atmosphere pervading the town, with the Church's dominion over society reaching a critical point just days before Christmas."
The film also examines the fate of the Furlong girls, whose vivacity starkly contrasts with the desolation witnessed by Bill as he glimpses the young women laboring within the convent's laundry. As he delivers coal, he witnesses them scrubbing floors; one pleads for his aid in escaping, only to be hurried away by a nun. In the background, a baby's wail echoes.
When Bill discovers one girl forsaken in the convent's coal shed, the mother superior, portrayed by Emily Watson, warns him of her power to revoke the esteemed education provided to his daughters. She offers him an envelope of money for Christmas, a silent bribe to secure his discretion.
Though "Small Things Like These" may initially seem like an understated film, especially when juxtaposed with Murphy's Oscar-winning epic "Oppenheimer," its protagonist embarks on a monumental ethical quest. The film vociferously addresses societal misogyny.
Despite its period setting, this narrative remains poignantly relevant. Earlier this year, Ireland initiated a redress scheme for mother and baby institutions. Northern Ireland has commenced discussions on a public inquiry into these homes. Many Irish citizens continue to wrestle with the truth of what transpired to countless women and their children.
Recently, the Vatican released its inaugural annual report on child protection efforts, hoping to rectify another grave scandal—clerical sexual abuse. Alarmingly, certain segments of the Roman Catholic Church still falter in adequately reporting such abuses.
This marks the inaugural venture for Murphy's production entity, "Big Things," with executive production by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. "Small Things Like These" premieres in U.S. theaters on Friday and is already showing in UK cinemas.
