Domingo sangriento

"Bloody Sunday" is a very startling, cinema-verite recreation of a very specific date (January 30, 1972), in a very specific place (Derry, Northern Ireland) of an event that for the Irish became "our Sharpeville."

But for an American audience with no benefit of subtitles for the brogues and working class Brit accents, no explanations outside of eventual context for lingo and slang (it took me awhile to keep track of "provos" vs "paras"), the quasi-documentary, in-your-face approach takes on a tragic universality.

It could be part of a Cassandra trilogy with `Black Hawk Down' and `No Man's Land' about why military should not be in charge in urban strife, whether as "peacekeepers" or in civil wars or regime changes, no matter how heinous the regime to be changed. A lesson for the Baghdad invasion planners?

Cities are complicated social ecologies, and the film shows a great diversity of attitudes and pressures on all sides, managing to be both clinical in meticulous detail and visceral in shocking impact. The film is probably not objective about the British (I don't think it's a coincidence that the imperious Brit "observer" who takes repugnant charge is played by Tim Pigott-Smith who was a similar colonialist in `The Jewel in the Crown.") A central universal image becomes the awesome power of rock-throwing, unemployed teen-age boys to spark war.

The liberals in the middle, clinging to dreams of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and fair community relations, are morally destroyed over the course of a few hours and the extremists with guns on both sides feed on each other in perpetual destruction like the ouroboros image of the snake eating itself. I kept feeling I missed the exact flash point in a wandering attention moment and wanted to immediately re-watch it to see if I could track the gotcha! moment when escalation could have been prevented, so I look forward to this being available on video tape.

But the film does clearly show that it was attitudes that created the violent outcome and consequent government non-investigation, as we see in so many police situations. Once soldiers enter a city it is a police situation with all those complexities.

I know James Nesbitt primarily from frothy Irish comedies, like `BallykissAngel,' so his staggering portrayal of the M.P. in the middle is a revelation, as he goes from planning a civil rights march to pleading with his girlfriend to physical heroism to a break-down in shock.

The version of the titular U2 song played out at the end, running well past the credits finish, is a moving, live, passionate audience sing-along where Bono shouts out other locales that have experienced similar situations to emphasize the universality.

I thought this was an amazing movie.

Now I learned about this in school for a while and as an Englishman I do feel a certain, oblique connection to the troubles. I didn't realise this kind of thing could happen among my compatriots (I'm not trying to belittle Irish Nationalism by calling the Northern Irish my compatriots, it's just how I have come to see them), and I hadn't realised I'd thought this way. It was a real consciousness raiser for me.

My biases notwithstanding, this movie is as a hypnotic account of a confusing episode of an even more confusing time. It has the task of representing the mindset of the times, the mindsets, I should say, while still making it into a spontaneous narrative.

I'm not an expert so I cannot vouch for the authenticity of any of this, but I feel I can believe all of it. There is a tendency for us to demarcate history from real life. A million deaths is a statistic as Stalin said. But here I really feel history and the lives of regular people converge in a devastating way.

At its heart I suppose the movie is a mystery. Not so much who-done-it but a why-did-it. I really felt while I was watching, all the chaos and threat that leads to tragedy while still feeling baffled and disorientated throughout. It feels like a documentary. The dialogue is spontaneous but still rich with nuance. The cinematography is candid and even shaky, giving it an often hypnotic, Blair Witch quality.

A movie to never forget.

Normally I don't enjoy the handheld documentary style films, as they tend to induce waves of nausea, but Bloody Sunday had me riveted from the word go. That we already know how it's going to end is irrelevant, the pressure building on the day of the march is almost unbearable. Though there's been criticism that the film is slanted towards the republican point of view, I found it balanced, even in the depiction of the soldiers and officers. Everybody certainly looked the part and I went away feeling some sympathy for both sides. Given the close quarters and inflammatory nature of the conflict, it's amazing that bloodbaths like this (soldiers blasting civilians) haven't happened more often in Northern Ireland. It's only now, that retired soldiers have broken ranks and talked about what actually happened, that a film like this can see the light of day.

Although initially difficult to get into, Bloody Sunday proved worthwhile persevering, as the latter half puts the viewer in the carnage.

The acting, especially James Nesbit is excellent, the recreation of the mood is superb although it was obvious with the constant close ups that there was very little budget to recreate the scenery. The geography was never explained and therefore would leave a viewer without prior knowledge of the area disorientated.

The documentary suffered from not being able to set the scene, a lot had happened in the week prior to the Civil Rights march that put both the participants and the security forces on edge and made the advance more significant. The question of why the Paras were sent to Derry were never fully explored.

Overall it was flawless recreation of events from the point of view taken by the film makers on this particular incident. It is worth noting that this is based on the Irish Governments review of the Widgery report into Bloody Sunday. (NB the Widgery report is mostly considered by nationalists to be a white wash)

Powerful, provocative & prompting, Bloody Sunday is a meticulously researched, expertly crafted & thoroughly gripping recreation of the Bogside massacre that occurred in the Northern Ireland town of Derry when British troops opened fire on civilians during a protest march, killing 14 & wounding just as many in the process.

Dramatising the events that led to the tragic incident on January 30, 1972, Bloody Sunday follows a civil right activist named Ivan Cooper who was the central organiser of the peaceful rally against internment that ended when British army paratroopers began firing on the unarmed demonstrators in full view of the public & the press.

Written & directed by Paul Greengrass, the movie sets its foreboding tone right within the opening segment after which it takes a step back to put its pieces on the board but once the stage is set, it explodes & moves forward with stunning immediacy. Greengrass' direction is at its very best when things go south & the whole episode is extensively detailed in the script.

Cinematography employs the quasi-documentary-style to film the entire event as it unfolds, thus bringing the viewers right into the conflict, while the frenetic hand-held camera-work further reflects the chaotic nature of such circumstances. Editing is slick for the most part, music is nearly absent and its cast contributes with convincing performances, playing their given roles with utmost sincerity.

On an overall scale, Bloody Sunday is a fiercely directed, deftly scripted, viciously photographed, skilfully edited & brilliantly performed movie that brings the dreadful event to life with remarkable precision, brims with intense emotions from start to finish, and not only works as a riveting thriller but also as an unsettling documentary. Disturbing & disquieting but essential viewing nonetheless, Bloody Sunday is strongly recommended.