'71

I really enjoyed my visit to Ireland in 2013. Me and my wife went there for 2 reasons, we wanted to see the city of Dublin, and we also had tickets to see Stereophonics live. The irish people are really friendly, and the irish wisky tasted wonderful. I will definetely go back, and perhaps travel more around Ireland, there are so many places i need to see. I did get to see some irish history in Dublin, but there is plenty more to learn. Especially about the history of IRA. I remember my dad told me when he was in Ireland in the early 80´s, that the situation around IRA was really serious. There could be bombs lying in pubs or restaurants, and no one would even know. I doubt that all of IRA is gone today, even if the situation is more under control nowdays. There is much more about the history of Ireland, that the whole world will never stop remembering. Maybe you have read about Bloody Sunday ? On January 30, in 1972, in Derry, Northern Ireland, british soldiers killed 26 civilians on the streets. This was one of the most brutal tragedies in irish history, that will always be remembered. I was not born at this time, so i read about this in history magazines. While reading this article, i remember that it struck me how the situation was handled by the military. It seemed so cold to just kill 26 people, for no reason at all really. I understand that the british army was told to do their job, but maybe the situation should have been handled in a different way. There are more moments in irish history where more people have been killed, especially by the IRA. So much pain and anger must have taken it´s toll on the whole country. ´71 is a UK film, that tries to bring up the 1971 riot in Belfast. Since the release this film have been critically acclaimed, and nominations at film festivals. Director Yann Demange, directed the well made tv series Dead Seat, about a zombie apocalypse that goes out of control, while a reality tv show is being made. `71 is his directorial debut film, and he have become a very respected film maker for his first full feature film. I first noticed the film at The Berlin Film Festival 2014, where the reviews were outstanding. Is this as good as the critics are saying, or is this a big dissapointment like V/H/S Viral ?

Gary Hook ( Jack O´Connell ), a british soldier, is send to Belfast with his patrol, to stand guard during house searches made by the police. The situation is becoming out of control, when civilians attack them with stones, and a child steals one of the soldiers weapons and runs away. Gary manage to locate the child, with a military friend. But his friend is brutally killed, and now Gary is running for his life. Gary manage to find a hideout, wounded and exhausted. As he rest for quite some time, he leaves at night time, trying to find a way out. He meets a Loyalist Child ( Corey McKinley ), who says he will lead him into the right direction, to get help. They end up in a bar, where Seargent Leslie Lewis ( Paul Anderson ) is preparing a bomb, to revenge the IRA. Leslie tells Gary to wait in the bar, as he goes outside. Gary sits with a pint, and no one is coming back, so he decide to go outside to see if he can see Leslie. The bar explodes, killing everyone inside, except for the child. Gary carry the boy out, to get help. Gary finally collapse in a street corner, when Brigid ( Charlie Murphy ) and her father take him to their home. Gary belive that they are trying to help him hide, but it turns out they know who are looking for him.

I am not sure if ´71 is based on true events completely, but the story of the soldier Gary, who is lost, feels really intriguing. Knowing that Ireland had to suffer from bad economy and with no bright future ahead, it must have been a rough time to live in. ´71 tries to show you what could have happened during these riots, and you get to see from 2 different perspectives. Both from the soldiers, and from the civilians. Who is right and who is wrong ? I belive we could all have different opinions about this.  This is one of those films that you will remember, simply because director Yann Demange have a feeling about telling deep, and emotional stories. To see these young men, forced to kill if necessary, must have been horrifying. Of course they have trained to survive, just like any soldier is trained to do, but killing another human is not something you simply forget. What makes ´71 such a good film is the acting, there are plenty of performances that are so good, Krister Henriksson would probably get an heart attack, when he finds out what acting really means. Lead actor Jack O´Connell have made many great performances from the past, from such films as Eden Lake and Harry Brown. Here he gets to shine once more, as the dedicated soldier Gary, trying to follow the rules. I would also like to mention how good Paul Anderson is,  In a chaos like this, you realise that anything can happen. Especially when you are stuck , not knowing how to get out. This could have easily be another war drama, but thankfully director Yann Demange tries to bring a different point of view on this time period. We have seen similar films before, i would still say that ´71 manage to be different, thanks to taking some surprisingly good turns along the way. If you are interested in historical films, i have a feeling you will love this one. With acting on this level from many of the cast members, you will guaranteed be squeezing your sofa, when it becomes really intensive. I am not surprised that America have discovered ´71 lately, and the box office numbers have increased. Not a lot of course, but it is nice to see people in the U.S. enjoy European cinema releases. Hopefully it can continue to be seen by a larger audience, here in Sweden we did not get to see it for long, so it came out on dvd instead. I highly recommend you see ´71, not just because of the historical perspective, you will also get high quality acting, just what we need in these days of awful remakes

Rating: DDDD