Oscar-winning actor Cillian Murphy says his new film The Little Things shows Ireland as a “different country”.
The film is based on Claire Keegan’s 2021 Booker shortlisted story about Wexford man and coal merchant Bill Furlong, who works at the local Magdalene Laundry. ) The story of the horrific scene discovered
Women and girls who become pregnant outside of marriage are sent to laundries by their families, welfare authorities, courts, police, clergy and church organizations.
Murphy, who won a Best Actor Oscar for “Oppenheimer,” plays Furlong in the 1985 drama.
His character, a father of five daughters, meets a girl locked away in a convent, and the story continues from there.
“It’s a deceptively simple story, but it’s an incredibly complex story,” He said on the Vinny & Cate show BBC Radio Ulster.
“If you think about Ireland at that time, the Kerry baby was in ’84, the moving statue was in ’85, there was no abortion, no divorce, probably not even contraception, so it was a completely different landscape,” he said.
“We pushed this on purpose so it felt like we were in the ’50s or ’60s, and it’s only when you stop by and see Erin or something that you realize we’re actually in 1985.
Murphy said he was surprised the film was called “historical,” but added: “It shows you how the country has changed since then, and these laundromats were open until 1996, which is a bit Incomprehensible.
From 1922 to the present day, at least 10,500 women have spent time in mother and baby homes.
The last institution in Northern Ireland did not close until 1990.
Murphy’s co-star Erin Walsh said she hopes the film sparks conversation.
“There’s so much subtext in it that I think three people could watch this movie and have three different opinions about how it ends, or who would have empathy at any point,” she said.
“The movie ends just as the drama is about to begin, so I think everyone will come up with a different version of how the next drama will start.”
you can Listen to the full interview with Cillian Murphy, Eileen Walsh and Emily Watson on BBC Sounds.
