On his first day on the job, British soldier Gary Hook (Jack O'Connell) is assigned to a patrol of Belfast at a time when the Troubles are in their chaotic peak. Left behind by his troops while he and another soldier are getting beaten up by rioters, he soon finds himself on the run when a rebellious IRA youth suddenly shoots his colleague in the face. After running into a young boy sympathetic to English cause, he stumbles onto a secret Army faction planning on using the IRA's own explosive methods against them. When incompetence detonates the bomb prematurely, Hook finds himself additionally injured. What follows is a twisted game of cat and mouse in which all the top cats aren't what they seem. Both the IRA and British army are looking for him, and unfortunately, it's for the same fatal reason.
One of the most interesting aspects of '71's approach in its treatment of the Troubles is how it doesn't position any of the opposing organizations in terms of moral absolutes. While either the IRA or the British government are typically portrayed in such films as being faceless, omnipresent forces of oppression and destruction, the enemy here is considered to be the conflict itself. In choosing to have a British citizen as a protagonist (the Irish perspective is generically prioritized, except maybe for The Long Good Friday, but this gem is one of a kind and stands alone within the thematic canon), Demange forces the viewer to abandon his or her preconceived notions regarding which side might be right or wrong, focusing instead on the social repercussions related to this brutal civil strife. He further blurs the lines of morality by establishing both groups as being plagued with inner-conflict. Individuals of both sides disagree among themselves as to what must be done with the wanted soldier, cementing even harder the idea of instability regarding the rooted ideology behind the cause of it all.
Violence is integral to the subject at hand, a fact that Demange understands yet doesn't exploit. While sporadic in appearance, the violent segments are swift, unflinching and unforgiving, painting Belfast in 1971 as a place where death comes unexpectedly fast. One shot, one bomb, one stab. Death is a given. It's death's aftermath that is of interest here, the effects of which are perhaps best illustrated in the heartbreaking post-bomb sequence where one realizes that no one is immune to its impending possibility, especially youth... And the final shootout is perhaps the most aesthetically gratifying display of sudden brutality since L.A. Confidential.
No comments:
Post a Comment