'71 Film Review - Starring Jack O'Connell
Posted on: 2014-10-14
Our rating:
This is bold and brutal filmmaking, marked by several stand-out set pieces and punctuated by brief but extremely shocking jabs of violence - stark, realistic, gruelling, horrific. A triumphant directorial debut and a supremely crafted thriller.
1971 in Belfast was a tense, combustible place, a city divided primarily along Protestant and Catholic lines comprising of the UK-centric Loyalists and the Republics who wanted to join Eire. A war zone of frighteningly hellish proportions, it's the ultra-grim, hyper-real vision of first-time direction Yann Demange that serves as the backdrop for a film that has to be a contender for one of the best of the year.
The British Army blunder their way into a hostile situation, totally naive of what to expect and somewhat ignorant of how to deal with the realities of its brutal, bloody streets. When newly-recruited soldier Gary Hook (Jack O'Connell) ends up getting separated from his platoon and stranded on a housing estate, he has to use his wits and gut impulses to find his way back to the barracks before the IRA close in on him.
O'Connell's role is largely silent, using gestures and expressions to invoke his feelings of panic and fear as he negotiates bombed-out, rubble-strewn roads in a desperate bid for survival. It's an incredibly watchable performance, tense, urgent, riveting, and a kind of urban Western that plays out within a labyrinthine maze of trustworthy and not-so-trustworthy characters.
This is bold and brutal filmmaking, marked by several stand-out set pieces and punctuated by brief but extremely shocking jabs of violence - stark, realistic, gruelling, horrific.
Contrary to what you might expect, Gary isn't fashioned in the Rambo mould or some kind of violence-crazed, trigger-happy brute. He's a solider in big, big trouble behind enemy lines and totally out of his depth, infused with the pure primal impulse to make it out of his chilling situation alive, and it's a performance so honest, human and true that O'Connell doesn't hit a single bum note.
The rest of the ensemble are also superb, with Scottish playwright Gregory Burke's taught, lean screenplay expertly balancing out the various character arcs, exposition and power plays with a supremely confident hand. There's a lot going on here and a fair amount to juggle in a its 100 minute running time, but the script and Demange's ferociously assertive direction wrong-foots us and keeps us guessing to its final, almost unbearably tense finale.
Cinematographer Tat Radcliffe's cinematography is also outstanding, utilizing Blackburn's Victorian terraces as a lamp-lit, lugubrious Hades that evokes the period with a devastatingly eerie verisimilitude. David Holme's pulsating, sparingly-used score is also very effective.
Some might find the film's conceit of dealing with real-life historical issues in effectively a high-concept, mainstream fashion somewhat flippant and disrespectful, but the film always retains its purpose and integrity, immersing you in Gary's panic-stricken situation without ever indulging in any overtly political proselytising.
A triumphant directorial debut and a supremely crafted, nail-biting, gripping, edge-of-the-seat action-thriller.
5/5
Reviewed by Jamie Caddick for 365Bristol
Article by:
Born and raised in the suburbs of Swansea, Jimmy moved to Bristol back in 2004 to attend university. Passionate about live music, sport, science and nature, he can usually be found walking his cocker spaniel Baxter at any number of green spots around the city. Call James on 078 9999 3534 or email Editor@365Bristol.com.
