In The Name Of The Father (DVD)

...of justice that put them in prison for over a decade for a terrorist atrocity they did not commit.

Its easy in this day and age of Irish fun pubs and country wide celebrations of St Patricks day across England that it wasnt always this way. I come from an Irish family and live in Birmingham and I am old enough to remember my friends & neighbours attitudes towards the Irish during the IRA's reign of terror (if you stop to think about ...
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The Irish community in this country - mainly Birmingham - have shown great humility and grace in forgiving and forgetting those horrible years when any Irishman could be pulled from his bed and held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for up to 72 hrs without charge. Now we have O'Neills pubs and O'Briens sandwich bars up and down the country and stars like Colin Farrell playing up to the cliched fighting Irish stereotype it is now trendy ... more

This film tells the tale of Guildford Four, but mainly Gerry Conlon,
and the miscarriage of justice that put them in prison for over a decade for a terrorist atrocity they did not commit.

Its easy in this day and age of Irish fun pubs and country wide celebrations of St Patricks day across England that it wasnt always this way. I come from an Irish family and live in Birmingham and I am old enough to remember my friends & neighbours attitudes towards the Irish during the IRA's reign of terror (if you stop to think about this you will realise that it wasnt that long ago).

The Irish community in this country - mainly Birmingham - have shown great humility and grace in forgiving and forgetting those horrible years when any Irishman could be pulled from his bed and held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for up to 72 hrs without charge. Now we have O'Neills pubs and O'Briens sandwich bars up and down the country and stars like Colin Farrell playing up to the cliched fighting Irish stereotype it is now trendy to be Irish.

Thats why films like this are very important - the facts may not be completely watertight but if it makes people aware of the events and go out and read the truth then it has done as much a service as any historical documentary. I was at college studying modern history at a time when Irish history was only taught from the British viewpoint and although we were young adults we were never taught (they werent even mentioned) about key Irish events and figures like Michael Collins, Eamon DeValera and Bloody Sunday. Most of my contempories got their "facts" on the Troubles from the British tabloids - if these same papers were to write about the War on Terror and Muslims in the way that they used to about the Irish Fleet Street would be torched.

When this film was released papers like The Daily Mail were in uproar about the inaccuracies present in the film - but recent history ie Tony Blair apologising to the Guildford Four and the release of the Birmingham Six - show that entertainment as fact can make a difference and raise the publics awareness of injustice that takes place in their name and under their nose.

The facts of the story are still the same no matter how they are softened for the screen and I for one have never felt manipulated by this film or the performances it contains.

Daniel Day Lewis made a brave move at the time to star in this film - as did Pete Pothlewaite and Emma Thompson - as anything that even contained the letters IRA caused uproar back in the early 90's. He gives one of his finest and most affecting performances of his career as Gerry Conlon and director Jim Sheridan may never better this. By dwelling on the strained relationship between Gerry and his father Guiseppe and how it changes during their time in prison makes the film more than anti-establishment propoganda. This could be about anyone in this situation - the politics come second.

There are many tragic and emotionally effective moments in this film - the death of Guiseppe (who still has not received a posthumous pardon), the day that the Four are released and you see how old they have become compared to the kids that they were when they were arrested, the realisation that this could have happened to anyone of Irish heritage during those strange times and that these people had served time with hardened criminals for a crime they didn't commit.

If ever there was a film crying out for a special edition it is this one - there is surely enough material out there to fill a second disc (news footage/documentaries/interviews) - and with the Irish situation gradually getting worse it is now even more important for we as a country to learn about Irelands tragic and troubled history instead of getting carried away with the Craic and Blarney that comes with the commercial side of the Irish "experience". With the current attitude and acceptance of the Irish it would be more valuable to learn now in case, God Forbid, we return to the days of mainland attacks and the goodwill dissolves into animosity and hatred and we split into 2 sides again with the British public returning to tabloid propaganda and blind prejudice.

We all know about South Africas troubled past and the horror of apartheid and this is why it is unbelievable that we arent open to learning more about the troubled history of a country that stands in the sea right next to us. 

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