The Troubles

Rating: 6/10 (21 June 2017)

Paul Greengrass has made a provocative drama documentary of the events in Derry in January 1972 which is to this day still an open wound.
The film with its numerous quick edits covers events over 24 hours from Saturday evening with its main character Ivan Cooper (James Nesbitt), a Protestant MP for the Social Democratic Labour Party and leading a peaceful anti-internment march which developed into the Bloody Sunday massacre on 30 January 1972.
Most of the 10,000 marchers that day would be Catholics, some with IRA links. Cooper wanted to develop a pan religion civil rights movement to counteract the violent nationalist and loyalist groups.
Intercut with Cooper organising the march are the British troops setting up roadblocks and barricades to prevent the march going much further due to newly introduced restrictions on marches.
When some rebellious youth start to to throw bricks at the troops they are met with a disproportionate response as the army shoot at some of the protesters which lead to thirteen people being left for dead.
The events ended up being a prime propaganda tool for the IRA. It turned many of the Irish against the presence of the mainland troops and set back the civil rights movement and any hope of a peaceful resolution to the Troubles.
Greengrass's documentary approach does not leave much for characterisation. Apart from Cooper, many of the people are painted in broad strokes with Tim Piggott-Smith's Major Ford being the main hissable villain.
Greengrass also does well to recreate the early 1970s setting and look. The editing might be jarring but the art direction, costumes and make up are well realised.