Hidden Agenda (1990 film)
Hidden Agenda is a 1990 political thriller film directed by Ken Loach with a screenplay by Jim Allen. The film stars Frances McDormand, Brian Cox, Brad Dourif, Maurice Roëves, Ian McElhinney, Mai Zetterling and Michelle Fairley. The plot follows the investigation of a killing in Northern Ireland by British security forces. Plot. The film begins with a quote from British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher insisting that Northern Ireland is part of Britain. In Northern Ireland, an Orange walk is held on The Twelfth, and an audio tape is handed to Paul Sullivan (Dourif), an American human  rights lawyer and activist. It ends with one from a former British intelligence agent, stating, "There are two laws running this country: one for the security forces and the other for the rest of us." British police investigator Peter Kerrigan (Cox), with the help of Sullivan's assistant, Ingrid Jessner (McDormand), investigates the death of Sullivan and his Provisional IRA driver by British security forces in Northern Ireland. The investigation reveals the men were killed without warning. Captain Harris, an ex-army intelligence officer now in hiding, possesses a tape recording of senior military leaders and Conservative Party politicians discussing  how they arranged the rise to power of Margaret Thatcher. Harris gives a copy of the tape to Jessner, after which British security forces kill Harris and blame his death on the IRA. Kerrigan is blackmailed into silence. Jessner has the tape, but without Harris to authenticate it, the recording is dismissed as a forgery. Production. The production was originally set up at Columbia Pictures in 1987, when David Puttnam ran the studio. After Puttnam was ousted, Loach had to find new financial backing, and eventually found it with John Daly who ran Hemdale Film Corporation. Reception. Critical response. "Hidden  Agenda" was praised for its honesty and complexity, as well as its resonance. It was criticised for portraying the Troubles as an adjunct to British rather than Irish politics. Roger Ebert gave the film 3 stars out of 4, describing it as "lacerating" and a "superior thriller", although he noted that "for Americans, it works more as a thriller than as political polemic". Rotten Tomatoes retrospectively collected 20 reviews, amassing an approval rating of 85%, with an average rating of 6.9/10. Box Office. The film made £141,050 in the UK. Awards. "Hidden Agenda" won the Jury Prize at the  1990 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for Best European Film at the Goya Awards. At the Festival press conference, the Northern Irish critic Alexander Walker publicly denounced the film as IRA propaganda.