It's murder by the demonstration of power!

Rating: Null/10 (23 October 2002)

Truly a powerfully and vividly profound and horrendous take on that fatal Derry day of massacre and debacle of 1972 that fortified the IRA's stronghold! And it's not unlike a dramatic repertoire of the ancient Greek tragedies that we are so familiar. 27 peaceful Irish demonstrators fatally shot and 13 dead - all because of their willingness to participate in a peace march against Britain's policy of 'internment without trial' and its policy of political favoritism! Random arrests turning into random killing! Everything exposed on screen! Are the Brits mostly at fault? Tim Pigott-Smith's obnoxiously condescending Major General Ford's command tactics will certainly bring discussions to our dinner table.
Director/Writer Paul Greengrass gives a heinous account of the tragedies from both sides of the aisle. Events flip from the Irish side to the British, and vice versa, offering significant events to prompt the viewers' judgment. His jerky and amazing verite-cinema shots, and his faux-documentary filmmaking style give me the illusion of being an eye-witness to the events, feeling the tensions of both sides; causing me to build up that sense of urgency to stay involved - right on the scenes with the cameraman. The bleached and stark images also provide an effective stir to the moods and despair. Absolutely unpretentious, so intensely real!
No fancy character development, only glimpses of some of the characters' backgrounds - yep, ordinary people, in the City of Derry, going about their daily lives before the eventful day. And British soldiers tracking their moves. The actors, playing their roles, are awesomely fabulous. They are truly convincing. Just watch the progress of their moods. I was gripped by their personal stories. And I was frankly and totally absorbed by James Nesbitt's Ivan Cooper (the leader of the Irish civil-rights coalition,), watching this factory manager character stroll from his home through streets, and passing the theater where the `Sunday Bloody Sunday' and `Magnificent 7' movies are being shown at their local theater. Observing these characters, watching their plight, their baffling behaviors, and their decisively aggressive acts, and being thrown into the scenes of chaotic hostilities and confusion are like suffering the panic and excruciating pain from a bullet ricocheting through my spine. Yep, an absolutely dramatic and emotionally and chillingly disturbing attempt at revealing a historical episode! Just listen to the names of the dead being read out, between scenes of presenting the British soldiers' blotched defenses and fallacies.
The lack of dialogue is also ingeniously done to create a real-life approach to commotion and sense of tension. Hardly any music accompanies the scenes. Just phones ringing off the hook and baby cries. Absolutely a praiseworthy development to add realism to events! Only the U2's `Sunday, Bloody Sunday' song score grates loudly through the closing credits... continuing way past their finale. Very effective!
It's the film to watch for those interested to see how well filmmaking can capture an effective point of view. It's a film that astonishingly takes one right to that fatal Sunday of January 30 that has since led to the continuing estranged relationship between Northern Ireland and Britain. I am frankly still shaken and numb - even at this point of posting.

My rating: A-