La battaglia di Jadotville

I had never heard of The Siege of Jadotville before watching this film.

Its based on a remarkable story of courage of a small group of Irish UN troops who come under attack from a much larger contingent of mixed tribal, coup based government, settler and mercenary forces in the Congo.

The courage demonstrated by the Irish soldiers and their determination to do their job is overshadowed by the political machinations of the UN and the Irish government. The fear, on the part of the latter, of looking incompetent, leads to the soldiers becoming the fall guys, for a situation they did not create and could not, ultimately control. All this, in spite of their heroic efforts.

Whats really surprising is the quality of this production. Its an exceptional film on so many levels. Its reasonably candid, in its appraisal of the situation that existed at the time. Its capably directed, scripted and acted as well, with a very strong cast.

The action scenes that run the length of this film are quite simply, incredible. This film is never, ever boring but what really astounded me is the casualties inflicted by the Irish soldiers with not one of their men lost. Its a testament too, to the ability and insight shown by their commanding officer.

I'm not a huge war film fan so for me to give what amounts to a war film, a 10 out of 10, really is saying something. Take a look, you wont be disappointed.

Anyone who was lucky enough to see the recent stage play 'A Season in the Congo' in London a couple of years will have a good idea of the backdrop of events here. In time this may too be a feature film. We can only hope.

For those who do not know the background to the setting of these events - Its 1961 in the African Congo and the country is still reeling from the murder of its democratically elected President Patrice Lumumba. Complicit in his death were both the United States and the United Nations to whom Lumumba had appealed to for help when there was rebellion in his army, both had refused, so he turned to the Soviet Union for assistance which brought down scorn from the west. By the time the UN got its act together the country was under the command of Moise Tshombe and Lumumba had been murdered. Belgian Mercenaries working with Condolease troops loyal to Mobutu wanted the UN out and into all this mess arrived a group of Irish Soldiers sent auspiciously under the the guise of a Peace Keeping Mission to a remote location, their actual objective, not immediately clear. The UN, keen to show Mobutu has it was pulling the strings from here on seized several Government controlled buildings in the capital, during which several civilians were killed at a radio station. The UN in turn covered up these events, all the while in a distant outpost the small group of Irish Soldiers face a siege from thousands of troops. Unable to be reinforced and low on ammo water, how long can they hold out?

Thus is setting for the Siege of Jadotville. The European involvement in the Congo is a shameful and embarrassing part of our history which has been all too glossed over and the events depicted here were indeed also covered up themselves. The more films about this subject the better as far as I am concerned. But this is a story about the men on the ground as well as the mess that put them there. Young flush faced lads who have never seen the face of battle before. Their commander, played by Jamie Dornan, knows their in trouble and is quick to improve the defences and the film takes on something of a 'Zulu' quality.

The Casting here has been key Mark Strong is the face of the complex double duelling politic and as always puts in a great performance in his role.

Guillaume Canet heads up the Belgian mercenaries with an appropriate broodiness but the younger cast here, many of them relative unknowns are great. I predict great things to come for several of the actors - including Sam Keeley, Conor MacNeil, Charlie Kelly, Fionn O'Shea and Ronan Raftery to name just a few while Danny Sapani makes for an imposing Tshombe. Characteriasion is a little thin of the ground for some of the characters who become identifiable by what they do (Sniper, Radio Operator) rather than what they say, so its a credit to the cast and director that many of the nameless men manage to make their mark in ones memory. As with most films of this type female roles are somewhat underwritten but such is the nature of the piece. There has been mentions of Jamie Dornan's accent, I personally couldn't find too great a fault in it, it was his acting that constantly drew me on screen. Someone who knows how to do a great deal, just with a look rather than with dialogue. He just gets better in everything I see him in.

This is an extremely well made and worthy film that sets right an injustice that history was told not to tell at the time. It makes one wonder how many more such stories are out there. I am sure hundreds, no thousands. Recommended.

I happened to be in Jadotville before the arrival of the Irish UN troops. The Katangese did not want the UN to be there at all and supported Moise Tshombe. Even the public aimed their hostility at the UN and praised Tsombe's mercenary forces. In Jadotville we knew that the Irish and trouble was coming, so some friends and I were evacuated to Elizabethville.

I lost touch with happenings at Jadotville and one never knew what really transpired there. It is only now by coming across this film that the truth comes out and why the secrecy was kept for 45 years.

I watched the film with anticipation, which also brought back many memories. I accept that the film was dramatized, but I can assure you it was no fun being there.

I have never reviewed a movie before, and I probably will never review another. I always go to IMDb to read reviews on a movie before I watch it, just to decide whether it's worth the 1.5-2 hours of my time.

I must say that I am a war movie buff, and have not seen a decent one since Saving Private Ryan and Heroes of Iwo Jima.

Put simply, this movie had me hooked from the first five minutes. The dialogue is fantastic, the narration is on point and the story line flows very well.

I was gripped to my seat as I watched this film, and I felt a deep connection with each and every soldier on screen. This might come out as a B grade movie, but I assure you it was A+ in my books. definitely worth the 2 hours and I will probably watch it again and again in future.

I never heard of this battle before, and I'm a Belgian. Apparently this combat story has been held secret from us, or maybe I just skipped a lesson when they teached us that historical fact, that's also possible. Nevertheless, it doesn't really matter, as once again it's proven that war is fought by people that massacre each other but don't know each other, commanded and benefited by people that know each other but that don't fight each other. It's an interesting story, certainly entertaining, even for people that are not into war movies. A poignant story about courage, desperation and combat tactics. The cast was very good, with an excellent Jamie Dornan playing the main character Patrick Quinlan. Richie Smyth did a good job directing this hommage to those men that once came home as supposedly cowards only to be recognized as heroes fifty years later, typical again for the insanity of wars.