Guilt Inducing History Lesson

Rating: Null/10 (22 April 2007)

The British did some appalling things in Ireland. Well, let's be honest, the British did appalling things on every continent of the globe, but they seemed to reserve a particular wrath for the Irish, whom they treated with a nasty brutality normally reserved for the inhabitants of far hotter, more distant lands.
This is a truly depressing movie, but beautifully filmed. I made a mistake watching it on a Friday night. I should have reserved it for a wet Monday. As someone born and raised in Britain, but with an Irish father, I came out of the cinema not sure if I should feel guilty at being a Brit or proud to be Irish. It's a conflicted feeling, appropriate for a movie about two conflicted protagonists.
Damian (Cillian Murphy) is a clever lad, a newly qualified doctor who wants nothing more than to be a healer. As the movie opens he is about to travel to London to take up a post at a major teaching hospital, a great opportunity for him personally. His brother Teddy (Padraic Delaney) is a budding leader of the Irish Republican movement, trying to get rid of the British in general and the dreaded Black and Tans army unit in particular. It's 1920 and Ireland is poor and under the heel of Britain. Before he can leave, Damian witnesses two acts of utter brutality on the part of the occupying British army, and decides to throw in his lot with his brother and the band of insurgents  or freedom fighters, depending on which side of the Irish Sea you were living at the time.
But nothing is ever simple. Rarely is a war about simple freedom resolved simply, with everyone living happily ever after. The self governing Irish Republic has been voted in by the Irish people, but is not recognized by the ruling Brits and has been forced underground. The insurgent army, a determined and disciplined collection of local men from the countryside, is supported by the poor, rural population, and hands out swift and fierce punishment to anyone seen as a traitor to the Irish cause. Their guerrilla campaign wins a partial victory for the Irish, a treaty with the British which allows a degree of self government but still acknowledges the rule of the British crown. Teddy, a pragmatist, supports this limited victory, but Damian, an idealist, wants to keep fighting all out, for total victory and complete freedom for Ireland. The brothers find themselves on opposing sides, and the scene is set for tragedy. And the British can sit back cynically, and watch as the Irish fight each other instead.
Cillian Murphy is terrific in this movie. He was good in Breakfast on Pluto, although I found that movie vaguely disappointing, and he was chillingly good in Red Eye as a very nasty baddie. I'd go so far as to say he made Red Eye the surprisingly excellent thriller it was. I had been trying to think who he reminded me of, when a local film critic dropped the name Terence Stamp into his review of The Wind, and I found myself nodding in agreement. They both possess faces of angular beauty, all chiseled planes and haunting blue eyes. Here Murphy acts with an engaging air of honest vulnerability and is utterly compelling. The supporting cast is terrific, and the location shooting in County Cork shows the Ireland I remember from childhood holidays in the 50s and 60s, beautiful, windswept and poor. Thank goodness things have improved now, and Ireland has prospered in the European Union. Director Ken Loach and writer Paul Laverty are to be congratulated on an excellent movie.