Humbling Story Of Massacre In Derry

Rating: 10/10 (8 March 2019)

Paul Greengrass film inspired by Don Mullan's book Eyewitness Bloody Sunday tells the awful story story of Irish civilians shot by British soldiers on 30th January 1972. The first British massacre carried out since my own birth in England in 1956 or was it ? The first had been the massacre of Indian nationals (Sihks) in Amritsar in 1919. The second was at Croke Park, Dublin on 21st November 1920 where 14 civilians attending a football match were shot dead.
30th January 1972 was the day we paid our renewal subscription to the International Massacre Club, unequivocally re-joining the ranks of Amritza in 1919; Dublin in 1920; Maille in 1944; Sharpville in 1960 ; My Lai in 1968; Derry in 1972.
If there were an awards ceremony for massacres, Britain would have won the Oscar - with a hat trick - easily.
At a time when Britain was feeling as self-satisfied at having its first female Prime Minister as the USA may have felt when the first black President was sworn into office in 2009.
Excellent performance by Jimmy Nesbitt as Ivan Cooper the local MP for Derry
A great film that shows the British Army at its brutal, destructive worst.
One of the best films about Ireland ever made by an Englishman.
What was heroism in the previous generation is seen by my own in the same light as Selma (2014) where the people are the children of a different God whose skin just happens to be a different colour.