Harry's Game

Easily the best thriller set in Belfast, taken from Gerald Seymour's excellent novel. The film benefits from a degree of accuracy you will never find in 'The Devil's Own,' 'Patriot Games' or any of the other Hollywood nonsense. A good cast with many Belfast actors adds realism and the story is fast-paced and believable. The opening sequence is shocking, but again very detailed and the use of the IRA CO as a voice-over is pretty clever. The tension as the IRA close in on Harry is palpable as is his feeling of isolation and all the characters are three-dimensional. Leeds was used for some filming, but it feels like Belfast and there is good use of Belfast locations as well, especially during the climax. 'It was well done, Billy...'

Those of us who were fortunate enough to see Harry's Game in 1982 on TV were watching a stitched together version for broadcast distribution. It was originally made as a TV mini series in three one-hour parts. The recently available British DVD (PAL region 2) is shown in its original episodic format.

The other postings have said enough to describe the story, so I won't go into it. We've seen the story in many incarnations, but the real attraction to this film is the film making.

Typical of British cinema, it is very Spartan: no superfluous music, sound, or special effects. The costumes are "everyday," and the sets are actual row houses, typical of the times and area. This gritty story plays out without cinematic distractions or any of the nauseating political correctness which has become "de rigueur" in today's films.

It has been said about music that a simple melody well played is far more beautiful than a symphony butchered. Similarly, one can say about film that a simple, believable story well told is far more captivating than a howler of a story tossed together with a dog's dinner of special effects. Think of this film in terms of Zen.

** I will say the very opening of the film with the haunting Celtic vocals by Enya and Clannad instantly caught my attention. At the time Enya was merely the vocalist in the family band, Clannad, and in 1981, was an unknown in North America. However, I knew immediately this was a voice destined for greatness. For Enya fans who only know her music, the "Theme to Harry's Game" refers to this marvelous film.

This is yet another example of the abysmal ignorance of marketing on the part of the British film industry. Evidently the owners of the property don't like making money. The only thing this film lacked was a marketing budget and someone to market it.

For film lover's who are disappointed by the dearth of North American releases of marvelous British, Aussie and European films, I would highly recommend purchasing a region free DVD player, and ordering your films from England. There are several sites which sell them very cheap. Also, if you like French cinema, set your browser to detect French language hits also when you search film titles. Lots of great used titles available on ebay.fr or amazon.fr.

I have had "Harry's Game" in my video collection for about 12 years and I have watched it many times. Nothing released by mainstream cinema, British or American, comes anywhere close to touching the fear and desperate tension felt by the troops on the ground of both sides in the Troubles. It is an intelligent, very well made, exciting and despairing film which deserved wide release in cinemas throughout the world - pity it was made for television. Like Mark Leeper I have been strongly recommending "Harry's Game" to anyone interested in first quality film-making.

I spent several months scouring DVD stores and P2P networks, looking for Harry's Game, simply because I'd heard from numerous sources that it was the most authentic portrayal of the N. Irish troubles on film. I finally got my hands on a copy, and I was very excited to see what I believed was going to be the best depiction of life in N. Ireland under the shadow of the war.

Dear GOD. The acting, the accents, the dialogue, the camera work, the directing; is there anything in this friggin' series that doesn't seem like it was under the control of a high school media student?

This is the worst - yes, the WORST - depiction of the Troubles I've ever seen, and I've seen some pretty abysmal Troubles-inspired movies, let me tell ya! There are two things, and ONLY two things that make this series tolerable enough so that I could sit through the full three hours. First, the overall visual "bleakness" of the series. It really "felt" like Northern Ireland, and certainly the Northern Ireland of the 80's. As long as no one spoke or acted out anything other than walking around, it was quite authentic. Then again, this probably had nothing to do with the director's/producer's vision and more to do with their budget, but we'll give them the benefit of the doubt. The second positive point is that it appears to have been reasonably well-researched in terms of the "operating procedures" of both the IRA and the British intelligence apparatus. In that respect, it's no more or less authentic than any other half-decent attempt to portray the N. Irish Troubles.

I found myself shaking my head in both disbelief and anger every time someone did or said something on-screen. The casting appears to have been made up predominately of weak B actors, somewhat-known British TV actors, and a handful of N. Irish natives who probably hadn't acted in their lives. The accents...God almighty, the accents. Every single "N. Irish" person in the series - other than those actually FROM N. Ireland - seemed to have developed their own bastardization of the N. Irish accent. They may as well have been from different planets. Some were so bad that I burst out laughing...others were just bad enough to make me cringe. The dialogue was no better; the writer was putting words into the mouths of these characters that they'd never say, and making them spew out their moronic lines at inappropriate/unnecessary times. It just felt weak and unrealistic, which is quite staggering considering the fact that the one word that everyone associates with this series is "authenticity".

The Clannad theme song for the series is a fine piece of music, and the fact that it plays during the end credits is probably a wise choice - end credits, good music; a fair pay-off for having wasted several hours of your life.

Overall Authenticity = 4/10

Overall Entertainment Value = 2/10

This is bog-standard, low-budget 80's TV. Don't expect anything more, and don't expect a history lesson about N. Ireland.

Yes, this is a bleak portrait of the Troubles. Yes, it has wonderful music and a theme tune that strike you. But no, this isn't a masterpiece. It is a flawed masterpiece on its own accord. The accents spoken by some of its actors are a joke whilst some of its characters aren't well-presented in an acceptable manner. Plus, this plot needs more strength than ingenuity.

Without giving too much away, here are some questions for you...

1. If Harry, who is disguised as an Irish citizen, enters the Ardoyne area of Belfast, how come the Catholic taxi driver recognises an Army-type suitcase in the back without raising the alarm?

2. If Billy was supposed to run as far as his home with a wounded arm, would he really make it in time to see his wife?

3. If the British Army knew one of their military agents was going to get Harry, how on earth did they not know who the killer was in the first place?

Think before you leap is what I suggest when it comes to this overrated piece of TV history.