a brilliant movie with a story that needs to be told

Rating: 10/10 (13 August 2006)

The Context I viewed it in: Closing night of a film festival. Wasn't in the mood for a dramatic piece with thick Irish accents, yet soon enough the accent became easier to decipher(mostly). And it didn't even seem to be drama, more dramatic action movie.
The tension in the cinema as the events unfolded was huge. There is one particular scene where I found myself shaking, and being there, and feeling the event. People crying on screen matched people crying in the cinema. The great camera work and editing of this scene helped.
Just at the end of the crisis point, the film started playing upside-down and in reverse, a stuff-up from whoever connected the film rolls I'd guess. The whole audience started laughing their heads off. We needed that relief of tension. After 15 minutes they'd fixed the issue and we watched the rest. That technical stuff-up did not stop me loving this movie.
Irish version of Braveheart?
Momentarily I felt ashamed of being half-English but it passed as I realised this story needs to be told... To stop history repeating and to send reverberations into soldiers & civilians tied up in conflicts around the world today.
Haven't stopped thinking about it. Loved every aspect of it.
-artylg