’71, 2014.
Directed by Yann Demange.
Starring Jack O’Connell, Sam Reid, Paul Anderson, Sean Harris, Charlie Murphy, Sam Hazeldine, Killian Scott, Barry Keoghan and Corey McKinley.
SYNOPSIS:
A young and disoriented British soldier is accidentally abandoned by his unit following a riot on the deadly streets of Belfast in 1971.
’71 opens with two young soldiers knocking the hell out of each other in an army boxing match. No head protection, no padding. These are tough young men and “good lads” in their drill sergeant’s own words, but this is also a very different time when we first see their bloodied faces, a confusing time for all involved in the story and the real events in which it takes place. It is this confusion, the unknowing, and the futility of it all which gives ‘71 it’s edge of other stripped down thrillers, for the goal is simple from the start and remains simple to the very end; survive.
We follow the struggle of Gary Hook, one of the aforementioned soldiers who finds himself on the front line in Belfast in 1971. He, like most of the other men, probably assumed he was going to be sent to a base in Berlin and never see a gun pointed at him in anger but the harsh realities of war are put upon him without ever stepping foot on foreign soil. Hook and his squadron form a human blockade on the Falls Road, where the dividing line between Protestant and Catholic meets, for reasons they don’t know. An officer beats seven shades of crap out of a suspected weapons harbourer for the IRA in a terraced house behind them as an angry crowd begins to form. The scene is set and Hook soon finds himself separated from his squadron and alone behind enemy lines.
The faces of many men out to kill Hook (and any soldier like him) are no older than the British soldiers themselves, some even younger. They tell them to “fuck off back to England” or “leave Belfast alone” but do they know why they are saying these things, or why they are filled with so much anger? The film shows the young Republicans as a unit but asks us to question why such men are drawn to violence and whether they know what is they are killing for. In one scene Hook is forced to take a life at climax of a very tense ‘hunt him down’ sequence but instead of a heroic struggle it may be the most resentful death you’ll see in cinema this year. Hook, if born in a different country, could have been the one on the other end.
Furthermore, the film is purposefully ambiguous when it comes to the loyalties of those who, forced or otherwise, help Hook throughout the film. He is, after all, on their ‘side’ but whether or not a human life is worth protecting in the face of violent retaliation looms over the film like the smoke from the explosions which light up the Belfast night sky. The film large majority of the film takes place exclusively at night which adds to the confusion; all geography looks the same, nothing and no one can be identified as friend or foe, and the streets seem like an urban jungle where no one should be seen outside after dark except predator and prey.
As a debut effort, director Yann Demange shows immense skill in balancing character, theme, and teeth-clenching tension to ensure his film rarely lets slip any of element which helps elevate it over other thrillers which needless add convoluted plotlines to artificially gain audience engagement. Parts of the film reminded me of Paul Greengrass’s magnificent Bloody Sunday which was also set in the same period, especially Demange’s use of the handheld camera to capture the frantic nature of a life or death foot chase, the shell shock aftermath of an explosion, or the intense pain of sewing up a wound. Much praise must also go to Jack O’ Connell as Hook, who is asked to do a lot of acting whilst having barely any dialogue despite having more screen time than anyone else. There is no ‘right and wrong’ speech or ‘what the hell is this war all about anyway?’ monologue because Hook is just a man trying to survive. O’ Connell reminds me (on the subject of Paul Greengrass) of a young Matt Damon; the guy has a very bright future ahead of him if his work in this film is any indication of his talents. At the time of writing I’ve yet to see his other 2014 release Starred Up, but it’s high on my list after this performance.
’71 couldn’t be told with modern warfare technology and the setting of 1970’s Belfast is refreshing to see on the cinema screen. It’s a film which manages to be many things at once, providing something for most viewers, even if it the thriller storyline is all they take from it. With so much understated work going on, I hope audiences get as much from it as I did for it’s a shining star for British cinema.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Rohan Morbey – follow me on Twitter
Originally published October 12, 2014. Updated October 24, 2022.
