Described as “a bitter-sweet comedy”, Stephen Frears directs Judi Dench and Steve Coogan in Philomena, a film based on the true story of an Irish woman (Dench) seeking the illegitimate son she was forced to put up for adoption in the U.S. in 1952.
Today the first official picture of Dench and Coogan, who plays journalist Martin Sixsmith, has arrived (via Bleeding Cool), to give us a peek at Dench in character.
Frears has fallen a bit on the side of “miss” lately as opposed to “hit” with films such as Lay the Favorite and Tamara Drewe, but perhaps Oscar-winner and seven-time nominee Judi Dench is just what the director needed to pull himself up and back into the limelight.
As of now, The Weinstein Co. hasn’t set a domestic release date for the film, but it arrives in the UK on November 1. I’m hoping for a Toronto premiere.
Now here’s the full image for your approval.
Falling pregnant as a teenager in Ireland in 1952, Philomena Lee was sent to the convent of Roscrea to be looked after as a “fallen woman”. When her baby was only a toddler, he was whisked away by the nuns to America for adoption. Philomena spent the next fifty years searching for him in vain.
Then she met Martin Sixsmith, a world-weary journalist as cynical as Philomena was trusting. Together they set off for America on a journey that would not only reveal the extraordinary story of Philomena’s son, but also the powerful bond that grew up between Philomena and Martin – a surprising relationship that was both profoundly moving and very funny.
The film is a bitter-sweet comedy, a compelling narrative of human love and loss, and a heart-breaking story that ultimately celebrates life.
