3 stars (out of 4)

Rating: 7/10 (9 December 2002)

This docudrama recreates the filmmakers' view of the events in the Northern Ireland city of Derry on January 30, 1972. It starts by showing an announcement by the British outlining the restrictions against public assembly in Northern Ireland. A protest march is clearly not approved.
The night before a planned civil rights march, Ivan Cooper (James Nesbitt from "Waking Ned Devine"), a Protestant member of Parliament representing the Irish Catholic district where the illegal march will take place, is making preparations. We see him moving through the streets, greeting people and trying to reinforce peaceful, non-confrontational interactions with the "occupying" British military force. We see that there are doubts about whether the march should go on and whether or not the more radical marchers will remain peaceful, but Cooper is resolute: "If we don't march, civil rights is dead in this city."
Meanwhile, the leaders of the British military know that a march is planned the next day. The upper-level officers give the directive that success will be defined by the number of so-called "hooligans" who are arrested. They make detailed plans for exactly where the march will go and where they will attempt to make the arrests. They spend little time planning what forms of force are appropriate.
And so the stage is set. With thousands of marchers, most will be peaceful while a few will inevitably push the boundaries. And on the military side, some will have measured responses while others will overreact.
The film style is intense. One is reminded of Black Hawk Down, with the washed out, almost monochromatic, color palette. Another similarity is the shaky handheld camera work, although I believe this film goes too far (TurboSpastiCam(tm)). But a contrasting aspect of the style here is to cut to black and then pause briefly between scenes, which gives you a moment to think and catch your breath. The accents are difficult to follow, not just at the beginning of the film but throughout, and subtitles would probably help.
The acting is uniformly good, making you feel as if you are watching a true documentary, with James Nesbitt clearly standing out. He has the most interesting part, and he lets you inside to feel what he is feeling. The film has won many awards, including the top prize at the Berlin International Film Festival and an audience award at Sundance.
After the film is over, one is left to wonder just how accurately it portrays the events. Not having studied the history, I can't say for sure, although I suspect the film is somewhat biased, but is probably not blatantly so.
If you have trouble with shaking cameras, you should stay very far away from this film. For everyone else, this film is worth watching. And if you wait for the DVD, you can decide if subtitles help.
Seen on 10/13/2002.