Emblazoned on the side of Sinn Féin’s headquarters on Falls Road, Belfast, is the grinning portrait of the revolutionary IRA member, Bobby Sands. Adorned across the red-bricked political establishment, the painting of the dissident radical sits overlooking the predominantly Catholic, republican neighborhood of the west end of Belfast. The quote “Our revenge will be the laughter of our children” is one of many stark reminders in the Northern Irish capital of ‘the Troubles’ and the struggles of the Irish Republican Army for the reclamation of their land from British rule. The politician, poet, and IRA volunteer was a fundamental orchestrator in civil protest and was subsequently incarcerated, where he furthered his freedom-fighting status by going on hunger strike.
While Belfast is very much a city reformed in the modern era following the Good Friday Agreement 25 years ago, elements of sectarianism still remain firmly intact. From which playgrounds children play in, to their Christian names, it’s still relatively easy to differentiate the Catholics from the Protestants and vice-versa. While the IRA, or the “old IRA” as they are now known, was a civilian militia founded in the early 20th century for the primary purpose of fighting for an independent Ireland, free of British rule, that fight was consequently extended to unbind British ties and jurisdiction in Northern Ireland. The IRA’s grapple for the restoration of Irish control was a long, hard journey and one that has been depicted in several fascinating and exceptional screenplays, here are some of the best movies about the IRA…
8The Boxer
Jim Sheridan reunites withthe great Daniel Day-Lewisfollowing the vast success ofIn the Name of the Fatherthree years prior, withThe Boxer.The gripping drama traverses through the life of a former boxer and IRA member after he is released from a 14-year stint in prison. It is a saddening, and at times, harrowing depiction of a man plagued by his past, a perfect stand-in for his own country’s history.
Set against the backdrop of the Troubles in 1971, Yann Demange’s low-budget’71follows British soldier Gary Hook (Jack O’Connell) as he navigates the streets of a rioting Belfast after his unit unintentionally abandoned him. Engulfed in a warring province, Gary must fight for his survival and avoid capture.’71brilliantly encapsulates the gritty, treacherous reality of Belfast and Northern Ireland during the period and the guerilla warfare that regularly ensued.
6Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sundaydocuments the events that unfolded on that fateful titular day in January 1972. Otherwise known as the Bogside massacre, Bloody Sunday was the day when 13 unarmed civilians were mercilessly shot dead by British soldiers during a protest just outside Derry, Northern Ireland.
Paul Greengrass’ film stars James Nesbitt as Ivan Cooper, the leader of the protest against the law of preventive detention. While the atrocities that occurred were initially treated with utter contempt, with loose disregard by the British government at the time, after the Saville Report was published in 2010 the unquestionable criminality of the British Army was laid bare for all to see.
5The Crying Game
Neil Jordan’sThe Crying Gamewas a critical success, claiming the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and the BAFTA for Best British Film. The 1992 movie details the kidnap of a Black British soldier, Jody (played by Forrest Whitaker), by members of the Provisional IRA, including volunteer Fergus (Stephen Rea). Jody is held captive and used as a bartering tool in order to secure the release of IRA prisoners. Despite the extreme circumstances they find themselves in, Fergus and Jody strike up an unlikely bond, and Fergus agrees to visit Jody’s girlfriend if he is executed.
4The Wind that Shakes the Barley
Corkonian Cillian Murphy stars in Ken Loach’s 2006 filmThe Wind that Shakes the Barley.The movie is an illustration of the early years of the Irish Republican Army and in particular Teddy (Padraic Delaney) and Damien O’Donovan’s (Cillian Murphy) IRA brigade as they challenge the British occupancy of Ireland, set against a visually stunning Irish backdrop.
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Damien, a college graduate accepted into Med school in England is set to leave County Cork, but the brutality of the local British battalion and the unwarranted murder of his fellow volunteer Michael, he ultimately changes course into the path of fighting for his country’s independence.The Wind that Shakes the Barleyis considered to be one of the best Ken Loach films,winning the Palme d’Orat the Canned Film Festival.
3In the Name of the Father
In 1974,two bombs were planted and detonated at a pub in Guildford, England. It was quickly established that the provisional IRA was responsible, and a manhunt commenced for the perpetrators. In Jim Sheridan’s 1993 dramaIn the Name of the Father,Daniel Day-Lewis stars as Gerry Conlon, a man accused of being behind the attack, along with his father Giuseppe (Pete Postlethwaite) who are subsequently falsely convicted and imprisoned.
In the Name of the Fatheroffers a touchingportrayal of true events, and one of the grossest miscarriages of justice to occur on British shores. Even a bottomless well of superlatives wouldn’t be enough to truly capture the magnificence and vulnerability of Daniel Day-Lewis’ Oscar-nominated performance.
Belfastwas somewhat of a passion project fordirector Kenneth Branagh, who loosely based the screenplay on his upbringing in Belfast during the height of the Troubles. Shot in ambient black and white,Belfastpowerfully represents the themes of family, youth, and the materiality of war. It is a vivid demonstration of how the civil unrest impacted an entire community, while beautifully using Buddy’s (Jude Hill) unassuming, youthful innocence as a shining light of hope in a city darkened by conflicting factions.
Prison cell walls decorated with human excrement, urine-flooded corridors, and prisoners facing unfathomable inhumanity are perhaps the most obvious takeaways from12 Years a Slavedirector Steve McQueen’s2008 filmHunger.The film is set in the infamous Maze prison on the outskirts of Lisburn, Northern Ireland which housed the revolutionary, Bobby Sands and many paramilitary prisoners, and documents the build-up and consequences of a hunger strike of 1981. Michael Fassbender (a regular McQueen collaborator) is incredible in the titular role as Bobby Sands, delivering arguably thedefining performance of his careerto date throughout his 42-pound weight loss in the film.
Related:The Best Movies About Politics From the 21st Century, So Far
We’ve become accustomed to McQueen’s propensity toward grit, realism, and this ardent determination to expose the unimaginable evils of historic events through the medium of film, regardless of how barbaric, nefarious, and iniquitous they may be, butHungerjust might take the cake. It’s largely a film steeped in vast periods of harrowing silence, yet McQueen utilizes the lengthy, poignant, and repetitive sounds of batons beating shields, the bristles of a broom against concrete floors, and the continuous clanging of metal plates to add to the atmospheric haze of the depths of depravity.
The film is a distressing, explicit, and deeply meaningful portrait of one man’s defiance in the face of British inequity. A man prepared to elongate his personal suffering for the greater good, despite the ostensibly undignified means, Sands was one of ten men who would succumb to starvation as a result of the protest. There are few films that, once the end credits roll, leave you with an eerie internal silence, andHungerresults in a haunting sense of disbelieving reflection that this film, for all its shocking nature, is somehow based on real-life happenings. McQueen places you in those fecal-stained prison cells curled up naked in the corner, he throws you on the floor and beats you to a pulp, and he starves you of both food and dignity until there is no life left.Hungeris a truly palpable, visceral cinematic masterpiece.
