Mourir à Belfast

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.

Years ago I was hanging out with friends at my house. Out of boredom, we turned on the TV to our one cable channel (I told you it was years ago!) and saw this movie. The story caught our interest. Craig Wasson plays a Vietnam veteran who goes to Northern Ireland and joins the IRA. Seems that his uncle Seamus (Sterling Hayden) told stories of about how he fought heroically for the IRA in the old days. Craig was disillusioned by his experience in Vietnam, and decides to redeem himself by fighting for a cause where the good guys (the IRA) are obviously in the right and the bad guys (the British) are obviously in the wrong. But when he gets to Northern Ireland, he finds more moral murkiness and disillusionment. The decades of warfare have made everybody either crazy, cynical, devoid of hope, or some combination of these. In over his head, he winds up being a pawn in a deadly game between the IRA and British Army. We were all amazed at what a *great* movie it was. Will it ever get released on DVD?

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 saw this movie with my parents when I was only 10. It is not an appropriate film to take a child to, as there is a graphic torture scene and a lot of violence. However, I did not have any lasting trauma, and I thought the film was incredible. Very realistic, good acting, cynical story line that looked at multiple sides of the issue of the Troubles. The movie did not paint either the IRA or the British government in a positive light. I thought the violence in the film, though graphic, was necessary to show the brutality of the situation. This was one of the most memorable movies I have ever seen. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find it on DVD. I would love to see it again as an adult.

The young Vietnam War veteran Michael Flaherty, from Detroit, (Craig Wasson) joins the IRA because his Irish grandfather fought for the cause and he has told Michael so many stories of his, and Michael wants to be just like him. After working briefly at the border, Michael's wish is granted- he is sent to Belfast, Northern Ireland, where all you can see is ruins and riots. All the while, Michael is not aware that he has been considered as an outsider and that he has been manipulated. To the IRA, he is nothing but a pawn for their 'public relations'. When Michael realises the brutal truth, he is utterly disillusioned. He only becomes further disillusioned when he has returned to America and his ill grandfather confesses to him yet another harsh truth...

I have been to Belfast, though not in the 1970s, but from what I've read and what I've seen, I can say this film vividly depicts the city of Belfast in the early 1970s, the peak of the Troubles. And not all of them fought for the cause. Some of them were indeed downright terrorists (again, I must reiterate, not ALL of them). The movie also portrays the cunning nature of the British Troops. The ending is a very clever one. I think I should track down the novel.