O Estranho

This is one of the better films on the IRA struggle I have ever seen, despite its age. You also get what looks like a film shot on location in Belfast from the 70's, which surprised me in that it looked like a warzone. Other later films on the subject cannot quite capture the setting as this film does wonderfully. The plot is complex, the acting is good, and it is pretty intense, and overall very well done. For anyone that likes the IRA subject matter it is definitely worth seeing, and one of the best films on that subject that is for unknown reasons, not well-watched.

I happened to be in NYC when this was released. Read no reviews of it, but having recently seen Craig Wasson in Go Tell the Spartans (still the best fiction movie about Vietnam) and having admired Frank Grimes since I saw him as the lead in The Playboy of the Western World in Dublin years earlier, I decided to go. And was glad I did. This movie is a gem. Its disappearance after that initial showing in NYC (and probably other metro centers in the US) baffles me. Even more baffling is its non-resurrection in DVD. The Wasson character sort of made the film a sequel to Go Tell the Spartans. The story (which I won't spoil by telling the plot), about both IRA-ers and Brits using the American for their political ends was great, as were the acting and directing. Still vivid in my memory is the emotional ending with Wasson in a phone booth in Detroit. I keep searching for its release on DVD, with no luck.

Other reviewers have covered it well, just letting those who were trying to hunt it down on DVD know that it's available now on Netflix Instant. Well worth the time to watch. It portrays both sides in an equally dismal light. As such, one of the more compelling stories with the troubles as its backdrop. Some of the great Irish actors appear in it, such as Niall Tobín, Ray McAnally and Joe Lynch. The Richard Gere-type American lead is all rage and not a lot of nuance, but can be forgiven. The cynical and dehumanizing way the Anerican pawn is manipulated makes for compelling viewing. It also contains some very daring lines about the role of the church, and accurately foretells its fate in the absence of a common enemy. Some earlier reviewers worried about the level of violence. It would be impossible to set a movie in Belfast in 1973 without losing all credibility, a mistake this movie avoids. I didn't find any scene gratuitous, and the integrity of the movie is the better for it. I would agree with others who have described this as a lost gem.

But it ended a lot earlier than the novel. In the book, Emmett chases Flaherty back to the U.S. and the pair of them end up at the Shepherd's Mass, a Feast of the Assumption event that takes place every year in the mountains of northern Wyoming. Back to the movie: I've tried to find it in video stores and nobody even has it listed. Where can I get a copy?

I watch about one movie a week. When somebody asks me what was the best movie I have ever seen, I respond that it is this one. I haven't seen it for decades. The internet is new. I'm looking for a copy.

The movie shows that there are no moral men anywhere. Even the twisted morals of bloodthirsty killers are subject to easy compromise. People in a fanatic rage quickly change their minds and turn on their own kind when it is expedient to do so.

I suppose the outward themes of the movie would be "don't get involved" and "don't rat on your friends." That being said; strangely enough, this film is heart wrenching.