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Irish
actor James Nesbitt during the shooting of Irish-British film
Bloody Sunday, directed by Paul Greengrass. Photo by AFP
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Sunday,
Bloody Sunday
Starring James Nesbitt, Tim Pigott-Smith, Nicholas Farrell and Gerard
McSorley. Rated MA
Reviewer
:: The Big Irish Git
There
are probably few people in this, or any other country in the world
who haven’t heard or even sang along with Bono as he belts
out the words, “How long, how long must we sing this song?
... Sunday, bloody Sunday. Sunday, bloody Sunday”.
But
what is Bloody Sunday – apart from a bar-room anthem sung by
drunken Paddies – right after Danny Boy?
To
avoid any cry of bias, I’ll leave the film’s synopses
to the Paramount press release and confine my rating to, as usual,
an evaluation of value for money for the average Aussie.
‘On
January 30, 1972, British soldiers shot dead 13 unarmed civilians
taking part in a civil rights march in Derry, Northern Ireland.
This event, now known as Bloody Sunday, was a major turning point
in the history of the modern Irish troubles, catapulting the conflict
into a civil war, driving many young men into the ranks of the IRA
and fuelling a 25-year cycle of violence.
‘This
film tells the story of Bloody Sunday in just one day from dawn
till dusk, from the arrival of hundreds of troops on the streets
of the besieged city to the violent collision between soldiers from
the feared 1 Para Regt and the crowds of civilian demonstrators.
‘The
film follows soldiers and police, as well as civilians from both
sides of the religious divide. It focuses in particular on the stories
of four men: Ivan Cooper, an idealistic civil rights leader who
shares Martin Luther King’s dream of peaceful change; Gerry
Donaghy, a 17-year-old Catholic rebel, yearning to settle down and
marry his Protestant girlfriend, but drawn into violent confrontation;
Brig Patrick MacLellan, commander of the British Army in Londonderry
under pressure to take firm action to stop the march; and a young
private, a 1 Para sig, ordered into Derry’s Bogside.
‘Bloody
Sunday is a war film about the struggle for peace. Shot in a vivid,
ultra-realistic style (read hand-held cameras and the fog-of-war
type action reminiscent of Saving Private Ryan), on the streets
and among the crowds, in the command posts and in the alleyways,
with the stone-throwers, with the activists, with the generals and
with the private soldiers.
‘The
film is an emotional roller-coaster – a portrait of the collision
between the unstoppable force and the immovable object that is the
700-year conflict between Britain and Ireland.’
On
limited release around the country, I encourage you to seek it out
if you have any curiosity about Ireland and the ‘troubles’
that have plagued the tiny island for more than 30 years with the
loss of more than 3000 lives.
I encourage
you to seek it out if you have the slightest wish to understand
what it is you help Bono to pontificate about over a Guinness or
three.
If,
on the other hand you want to be entertained for your $13.50, find
something else.
The Big Irish
Git rates this movie 3 shamrocks
You
can view more than 100 other movie reviews by The Big Irish Git
on his personal web site www.bigirishgit.com
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