Popping across the street for some groceries sees Belfast resident and teacher Martin stuck in the middle of some waste land when shots start ringing out. Hiding behind a burnt out car brings him into contact with one of the gunmen. The teenage gunman dies and Mac takes his gun and runs for it. The Sinn Fein/IRA gunmen go after him and capture him, convinced that he has killed young Michael himself.
As with seemingly the majority of films from Northern Ireland this has the Troubles as its central theme. We see an innocent man sucked into the middle of it all and witness the horrific consequences he has to endure as a result of an apparent act of kindness (getting involved). Once this has finished and Martin is dead (hey I did tick the "spoilers" box), we jump back in time and see events from another man's point of view where Martin actually does kill young Michael. This threw me and I wondered if I was now seeing the truth and thus there was a point there about nobody being without blame in Norn Iron, or if this was a reflection of now seeing it from a distance and how it looked. Given that nothing in the first half of the film had suggested we were seeing things from a twisted point of view I wasn't sure what to think and it undermined the film in my eyes. Aside from this the film had done well with the tension and the cast delivered pretty well, if only the narrative or message had not been so garbled.
Shown as part of TCM's classic shorts weekend I confess to have been underwhelmed by it. The direction is good and the sense of tension and fear is palatable but the story badly lets everyone else down. Confused and confusing at the end of it all, this isn't one I recommend.
As with seemingly the majority of films from Northern Ireland this has the Troubles as its central theme. We see an innocent man sucked into the middle of it all and witness the horrific consequences he has to endure as a result of an apparent act of kindness (getting involved). Once this has finished and Martin is dead (hey I did tick the "spoilers" box), we jump back in time and see events from another man's point of view where Martin actually does kill young Michael. This threw me and I wondered if I was now seeing the truth and thus there was a point there about nobody being without blame in Norn Iron, or if this was a reflection of now seeing it from a distance and how it looked. Given that nothing in the first half of the film had suggested we were seeing things from a twisted point of view I wasn't sure what to think and it undermined the film in my eyes. Aside from this the film had done well with the tension and the cast delivered pretty well, if only the narrative or message had not been so garbled.
Shown as part of TCM's classic shorts weekend I confess to have been underwhelmed by it. The direction is good and the sense of tension and fear is palatable but the story badly lets everyone else down. Confused and confusing at the end of it all, this isn't one I recommend.