The Treaty

Does an excellent job of explaining the impossible task Irish negotiators had in London, in 1921, in their negotiations with the British Government.

The Irish, after hundreds of years of trying to gain Independence, had finally got the British to the negotiation table. After a bloody war of Independence, a Truce was called with the British. Could the Irish get what they fought for; a Republic, independent of the British Empire ?

For the British, the danger was if they gave one colony Independence, it might encourage other colonies to seek Independence also, and risked breaking up the British Empire. Thus, removal of an oath of loyalty to the British King was a non-negotiable condition.

To complicate matters,the majority of citizens in the North East of the island, (in the Province of Ulster), did not want Independence.

As if the situation was not complicated enough, Ireland's political leader (Eamon De Valera), refrained from directly taking part in the negotiations (and instead sent a reluctant soldier/politician, Michael Collins instead).

This muddied the waters as to who was the decision makers on the Irish side were (the negation team in London, or De Valera back in Dublin) ?

When the British team (led by Prime Minister Loyd George), finally made their "sign the Treaty tonight, or the British Government will declare outright war" ultimatum, late one night, the Irish team in London were in an impossible situation. This movie captures the events, in a fair and balanced way (from both the Irish and British sides).

The excellent movie is surprisingly hard to get (not even on for sale, or rent on Amazon). Fortunately, it is available for free on YouTube. The picture quality is a bit fuzzy, but still wort watching.

Note: For anyone interested in the War of Independence, which preceded the Treaty, check out the movie: The Wind that shakes the Barley.

As a member of my family (Robert Barton) was one of the Irish negotiators of the treaty, I tracked this down and watched it a few nights ago on YouTube.

I would agree with the views expressed that The Treaty is an historically accurate although dramatised account of events that led to the situation we have today.

Maybe I have a biased viewpoint but I think the character of Michael Collins dominates this too much. This drama focuses on the treaty negotiations and more could have been made of the of the split between Collins, Griffith and Duggan who were in favour of the treaty and Barton and Childers who were against, particularly as the division was referred to early on.

Nonetheless, far better than "Michael Collins"!

I purchased the DVD through the Collins 22 Society on the web. I think both Neeson and Gleeson portrayed Collins well. Gleeson was lucky enough to work with writers who portrayed Collins' intellectual side better. It's hinted at in "Michael Collins." The list of noteworthy Irish and British actors is impressive, and Doyle is excellent as the leader (as said in an earlier post--yes, Griffith was the leader) of the delegation.

It would take a 10 part series to properly include all the intrigue, side deals, secret meetings, and counter-intelligence involved in that short period of time. This film does well in giving the essence, if not the details, of the time.

This is a historical drama about the treaty negotiation of 1921 that founded the Irish Free State in 1922, later to become the Republic of Ireland. I found it fascinating for two reasons. Firstly it is striking how the two parties locked horns over words and issues which are totally irrelevant today. The importance of the oath of allegiance to the King and the notion that Ireland remain part of the "empire". How stupid it all was looking back. The really important parts, about protecting the rights of minorities and avoiding civil war, seem to be only minor issues to both sides. The Irish Nationalists were obsessed "Irish Freedom" and the British with their "Empire".

The second reason I found it interesting is that it is an object lesson on how negotiations work. There is of course an inevitable comparison with Neil Jordan's epic "Michael Collins". In terms of budget, actors and drama "The Treaty" does not come close. However in terms of historical accuracy and educational value this is a far superior film. I found Jordan's film was far too coloured by his views on the Northern Ireland conflict. He took too much liberty with the historical facts. Watch "The Treaty" and you will learn far more about the events and people of the time.

Brendan Gleeson is a fine actor and the subject is a highly fascinating one, if difficult to bring to screen. It was also the subject of 'Michael Collins' from five years later (being based on the same subject it is inevitable to compare), and while that film was bigger in budget and had actors that were better known, also a film with many great merits, but it is one of those films to be watched on its own terms as a film rather than a true and un-biased piece of history.

Of which 'The Treaty' does a much better job at being. It is not as big in budget or as visually stunning as 'Michael Collins', but it is more truthful and appreciatively less speculative, explores the subject in much more depth with more sides being explored, has more complexity in characterisation and is nowhere near as black and white. It also doesn't have Julia Roberts's unspeakably awful performance.

Would also have liked a little more focus on the division, but there is really very little wrong with 'The Treaty'.

Its main merits are the cast and script. Brendan Gleeson gives a towering performance as Collins, and the support from particularly Ian Bannon and Tony Doyle is also splendid. The script is also very layered and thought-provoking, with the refusal to not take sides and showing that it was a complex situation shining through. On a factual level, it is very accurate and is not reliant at all on speculation or sacrificing the truth for trying to appeal to modern audiences (like with casting Roberts as a crass box office draw decision).

'The Treaty's' storytelling is nowhere near close to being as dry as it may sound on paper. It absorbs from start to finish and captures everything that was so interesting and complex about the Treaty itself in the first place with different view-points shown effectively. All the characters are well-drawn and non-biased, no clichés or heroes and villains here (not saying that 'Michael Collins' was that exactly, but still stand by finding some of it black-and-white).

Production values are not lavish as such and it is not as beautifully photographed as 'Michael Collins', but they are not cheap either and are perhaps more evocative.

Overall, very good and never less than compelling. 8/10 Bethany Cox