’71
(directed by Yann Demange, 2014)
**** (out of 5)
*
> As someone who has a great interest in the struggles of Northern Ireland (and been there several times), I have sought out and seen quite a number of films on the subject of “the Troubles” between the Unionists and the Republicans.
(CAL, IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, THE CRYING GAME, HUNGER, BLOODY SUNDAY come to mind, but there are more.)
. But they are usually told from the Republican point of view. I’ve never seen an examination of the conflict from this unusual viewpoint:
. An ordinary British youth joins England’s military and is sent to Ireland to defend the Queen’s interests when Belfast becomes unstable in the early 1971, reassured that he “won’t even be leaving the country”. Uh-huh… When the innocent, or at least naïve young recruit arrives, he finds that he may as well be in a foreign country, where everyone sees him as the enemy- part of an invading and occupying force. The considerable tension of the film ratchets up almost at once when he gets trapped behind rebel lines, his life potentially hanging in the balance.
. ‘71 didn’t really dig that deeply into the intractable partisan mess on that poor, tortured island. It didn’t need to. It told a different story, of a perfectly average young man suddenly thrust into a survival situation, just a short plane ride from home. The ideology of it all is lost on this Everyman. In the blink of an eye, he is an innocent at war. One of the most telling moments comes when a girl his age from the ‘other’ side becomes his unlikely nursemaid. She tries to establish a bridge of understanding between them, asking him if he likes David Bowie. He doesn’t know how to respond, finally blurting out: “I dunno. He’s okay. Kinda for girls, in’t he?” Both, it seems, are just normal kids thrust into a great big bloody drama they had nothing to do with, and forced to gamble with their lives.
. Tense and exciting, this street-level look at the not-too-distant past really delivers, because you are placed right in the thick of it with the stranded soldier, and you feel as though you, like the terrified young Brit, really have no idea what could happen next… And it does!
– Oh man, was this good. Thrilling and scary!
*
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