Rota Irlandesa

Of course it evokes some social political problems, very real. And related to modern issues, topics: military private contractors, but the way to tell this story is surprising from a film maker as Ken Loach. It is not a Jason Bourne nor 007 movie, but is rather action oriented for me, and still surprising from a director as Loach. I also know that he has also made some more or less action films such as THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY, but it spoke of the war in Ireland. Here it is nearly a movie where I would have imagined Jason Statham. Nearly. It then would have been an intellectual Jason Statham's vehicle, whilst it is here an action, badass Ken Loach.... But Ken Loach's fans won't be deceived. The torture sequence is just a joke, at least for the first part, in the final part, this is really gritty though. But at the beginning, I thought I could do it with my grandma, she would drink her tea in the same time. Putting the wet napkin on a face for only two seconds is just a joke. But for the end, we see just the torturer leaving the napkin and putting water on it without stopping.... This is realistic and gritty.

As I watched this superb Ken Loach film I kept on being reminded of "Get Carter". It wasn't the storyline but the imagery, the characters, the acting, and the reasons why this film works so well. And the central idea, as in "Get Carter", is about seeking justice for something that has happened to someone close.

From the moment we observe the bereaved Rachel, played with uncanny realism by Andrea Lowe, walk up and symbolically thump Mark Womack's Fergus we know we are in for a tough and uncompromising movie. And, as the story unfolds, we observe Womack's troubled character go through so many transitions whilst being so convincingly set on obtaining a certain justice for his best mate Frankie (John Bishop).

And although there are complexities in unravelling who did what and to whom the basic story is very simple, so simple it tells itself right to the very end. There is no room for sentimentality in this film, no clear divide between the good and the bad, we are simply left to imagine what we might do in the same circumstances. If there is a moral to the story it is the price of justice and the cost of being a survivor when things go wrong for someone very close to you.

The acting across the board is of the highest standard but I will single out Andrea Lowe and Mark Womack for performances which are stunningly realistic, beautifully honed and so powerfully delivered. These two just hold you in their grasp whenever they are on screen.

It is not a film for everyone and the subject matter is very controversial but it achieves what it sets out to do. It makes you think about what you might do in the same situation, how far you might go, how guilty you might feel, and it does so without ever sensationalising what is going on.

I recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone who enjoys being immersed in intelligent films.

A conspiracy film about private military contractors during the Iraq war. some compelling and controversial moments. Not always a comfortable watch. Very angsty and the dialogue too often shouted. Mark Womack was convincing, John Bishop was surprisingly good too but Andrea Lowe's performance wasn't doing it for me. All in all not a great film, not a bad one either. A decent film with a slow start and prone to the odd dull moment.

A very strong piece of cinema by Ken Loach, away from his usual social dramas, being this more a kind of war-thriller, but not lacking strong denunciation and great courage. The director uses his camera to denounce the crude reality of contractors behind the real stage of Iraqui war. We get to know the life of these contractors, once simply called mercenaries, working for private security firms, whose acting inside wars seem uncontrollable and out of every rule. Loach wants to display and manages to display things in an objective and cold way, regaining the right perspective, showing that although in a war context it is difficult to take the right perspective, there is always, if we want to be honest, a well-cut border between good and evil, good people and bad people, between right and wrong, and this is the most convincing point through the movie. It's difficult to have a conscience with a gun or a bomb in your hands, but when innocent people are killed, and when your conscience prevails, one has to come to terms with it in some way, and the price to be paid may be very high. It's a very harsh movie, it has the crudity of a documentary piece, in search for as much as verity, that's why the more entertaining elements, such as the thriller one, and also the love between Fergus and Frank's wife is treated in a cold way, as if love cannot side with such atrocities. Certainly a thought-provoking, very actual movie which again raises many questions and doubts about the legitimacy of a "just war".

Many movies are political but just a few directors are as consciously political film-maker like Ken Loach. This work hasn't got a clear left-wing agenda like others but it's his point on the Iraki war and handles subjects discussed upon many occasions, such as the exploitation of the unemployed and war crimes. Aside from the original (in Loach's films) issue, Route Irish is a characteristic production of this director and has many grim sequences. There are also very good acting performances that keep pace with the progress of the story. The conclusion is shocking but on the whole the film is a didactic and angry thriller, in the typical style of the social realist Loach.