In the Name of the Father

Words cannot accurately describe how affecting this movie is.

The story itself is harrowing, but the way in which Day Lewis portrays Gerry Conlon is heartbreaking at times. Several scenes in the film may be hard to take for those with a sensitive nature.

Captures the mood and the time perfectly for someone like me, who is not Irish, lives nowhere near Guildford and wasn't even alive at the time of the pub bombings.

I really wasn't expecting anything special when I sat down to watch this. I could not have been more wrong.

The soundtrack is great without exception too!

A total and utter classic.

In watching this fine film, on idea kept running though my mind. That being terrorism often hurts the innocent much more than the declared enemy. In the Name of the Father is a powerful, well-acted drama about terrorism and injustice. And also the love one man feels for his father. Some of the events in this film are factual, and others are not. Despite some liberties taken with history, the film still makes a strong point, however.

Daniel Day-Lewis plays Gerry Conlon, a young man falsely accused along with several other friends and family members, of bombing a London pub in 1974. The bombing, performed by the IRA, killed a few persons and wounded several others. Conlon and his friends just happen to be near by when the bombing takes place. Through police torture, Conlon and his best friend confess to the crime, thinking a trial will exonerate them. Trouble is, there had been so many recent bombings that the legal system in Britain was just crying out for a scapegoat. Conlon and four friends are given life sentences. Several members of Conlon's family are also given stiff jail sentences. Even his own father who seems to be the most righteous and kind person imaginable and who never set foot in England at all during the time of the bombing!

The film starts out like a shot from a cannon, as we see just how violent and chaotic Blefast was during the early seventies. Just living a normal life looked impossible. If the British troops weren't after you, then the IRA members were. The film also scores when we see Conlon head off to London to presumably make a better life for himself. He and a friend force themselves into a commune and enjoy a brief period of free love and decadence. The film gets very heavy once Conlon is arrested and tortured. And the last hour detailing his time behind bars is just plain somber. We watch his father just sort of waste away with him behind bars while an aggressive lawyer (Emma Thompson) fights to get them out. Pete Postletwaite is exceptional as Gerry's father, and seeing him grow sicker and weak is very difficult for the viewer.

The film tries to shift gears down the stretch and show how Conlon has become determined and more radicalized, but these scenes are nothing spectacular. Even the conclusion seems a little anti-climatic, but at least we see some justice finally get done. The acting is very, very good. Lewis is as good as ever, and nobody looks out of their league. There are some historical liberties taken. Gerry and his father never actually lived in the same cell, for instance. Overall, this film will stick with you, though.

In watching this film, one cannot help but feel for the victims of terrorism. I have personally not much knowledge of the conflict between the IRA and Britain, except to say that I'm well aware of how long and deep the scars run between the English and Irish peoples. That said, there is simply no excuse for terrorism. Look at how many victims that pub bombing created. Not only those who perished or were injured. That act of terror sent several innocent people to jail and ruined their lives! The British legal system is certainly to blame for sending the wrong people to jail, but would this have even happened if the IRA had not bombed that pub? A similar situation can be seen in the Middle East today. Radical Muslims look to strike out at Western interests, but their actions often hurt scores more other Muslims than any actual Western interests! Will we ever all learn to get along on this planet?

8 of 10 stars.

The Hound.

You're left wondering how many people over the years have been through the legal system in the UK and have been framed by those we place the ultimate trust within. It really does shake your confidence in a system and the people responsible for implementing it. Daniel Day-Lewis and Pete Postlethwaite bring this story to life with two magnificent performances and allow you to forgive those slight variations that misalign with actual events.

Even though this movie seems a bit too black and white from time to time I must say that it still is an impressive piece of cinema. Too black and white because I sometimes had the feeling that they had left out some parts to make it all a lot easier for the viewer. I can't help believing that Conlon and Hill weren't the nicest guys either, but the movie shows them almost as saints (except for the fact that they steal some lead from the roofs, they never really do anything wrong). Does that mean that this movie isn't any good? Certainly not! It still remains very impressive and the idea that injustice in the name of protecting the country should be allowed is awful and so it is good that at least some movie makers aren't afraid to protest against it.

The movie tells the story about Gerry Conlon and his old school friend Paul Hill. They both are small time criminals and because of their own safety they have to live in London for a while. Otherwise they might get shot by the IRA. In London they stay in a community of hippies, but aren't welcomed by everybody. As a bomb explodes in a pub, one of the members from the community goes to the police and accuses them of the crime. They are immediately apprehended, together with Conlon's father, his aunt and her family. What follows is a process full of corruption and false accusations, putting them in jail for many years even though they haven't done anything wrong.

The film is very good. It's well acted, well paced and well directed. The story is touching and I never got bored when watching it. Therefor I give it an 8/10.

Name of the Father came out one year before The Shawshank Redemption and is bar none the better film. Shawshank is a great film but Name of the Father has more of human story to it. Daniel Day Lewis is a great actor with more potential now than he did when he won his first Oscar for My Left Foot and since then he has never starred in a film which he has acted badly in. Some of the stories have not been amazing but his acting makes up for it. This was the second time That Daniel Day Lewis and Jim Sheridan have come together to make a film. In all they have done three but Name of the father is by far the best. Pete Postlethwaite is another example of fine acting as he is the best actor in England since who ever was the last greatest actor.

Daniel Day Lewis plays Gerry Conlon who is a seventies hippie who doesn't want to grow up. He has had so many troubles at home his father

Giuseppe played by Postlethwaite decides to pack him off to London for his own safety and not become a lost soul amongst the troubles in Belfast. But when Gerry gets there he might as well wish he never went there in the first place as the trouble from Belfast follows him and before you know it a bomb goes off in a pub near to where he is staying and is not long arrested for the bomb along with his friends and family including his father.

From there we are taken into this grieving story of strength, hope, tragedy and family. The story between father and son in jail is more touching and compelling than any love story you will ever see because these two men who have never really seen eye to eye are forced to confront each other's feeling and face up to where they stand in the world. Also Pete Postlewaite reminds me of my own father and my grandfather and yours two. He plays Giuseppe so well so would have thought he was the old guy living next door to you or the man you look up to as a father and spend time with as a granddad. What you have to remind yourself is that the movie is a true story of the Guilford Bombing and the men who paid the price for it. Whether or not you believe Gerry and Giuseppe were guilty of the Guilford Bomb is not the case in the film as it's more about the characters and there trials and tribulations.

One film that will always be remembered in my mind about making a difference with your life not matter where you are in the world.