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.

There are several areas of history I enjoy . . . the Irish struggle for freedom is one of them. I found this film to be both educational and entertaining. I voted 8/10 for that reason, not for technical brilliance or visual quality. While well done, this movie would not hold up against the higher-quality Hollywood movies as far as visual richness is concerned. That said, the movie holds a place of honor in my library. It might be difficult to find if you want to buy or rent it, but it is worth the effort. Surprisingly, the movie stars a couple actors well known in the States -- Ian Bannen and Brendan Gleeson (who just had a major part in the latest Harry Potter offering.) If you like history, or if you want to know some of the history of the IRA or the Irish / British battle, see this movie!

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.

This is by far a better dramatization of Michael Collins than the Neil Jordan film. Brendan Gleeson is wonderful as Collins and even looks much like him. I found it ironic that he was still not a big enough "name" for Jordan to cast him as Collins, yet he was cast as Collins' companion on his last fatal journey home.

Jordan's Michael Collins passed over Collins' role in the negotiations that created the Itish Free State, although it did reference it. Jordan picked the story up again with Collins' return from England and the rejection of the treaty by the die-hard Republicans as the prelude to the Civil War that cost Collins his life. The Treaty goes a long way to explaining how the divisive situation came about.

I taped The Treaty from TV and have viewed it over and over. I would really love to see it issued as a DVD.