war films used to be avoided but lately there's been some good-uns
this one set in belfast has the extra appeal of a history lesson i hope
we hear something on a blackened screen - sounds like gunfire
nope - a couple of lads furiously slugging it out in a boxing ring
a troop of soldiers then seen being lead on a cross-country run
crawling through streams and pipes, over obstacles - tough going
close-up and hand-held camera work making it feel real and right here
an early awakening at the barracks and an announcement - off to belfast
private gary hook then seen on a bus and then visiting a boarding house
he takes a young boy away for an outing - is this his brother or his son?
as he then says goodbye it's a clear look of - will i ever see him again?
next we are in belfast and at the makeshift barracks in a bleak city
day one - a briefing gives the soldiers and us a concise history lesson
the city divided between nationalist catholics and loyalist protestants
this day is a plunge into the hostile catholic area to look for weapons
as the army truck pulls up and the soldiers pile out they are bombarded
boys hanging over a fence throwing food and hurling abuse at the soldiers
they in turn show restaint and then fall in behind an armoured vehicle
their job is to hold back the protesting locals as houses are searched
it's in-your-face stuff as the local men and women take on the soldiers
the intensity of the argy bargy increases with neither side backing off
hand-held cameras again providing an enthralling sense of realism
something has to happen - and it does - a soldier felled by a rock
a boy races to grab his rifle, runs and is then pursued by 2 soldiers
one of them our man hook - they grab him but teenagers intervene
the other soldier shot point blank and hook makes a bolt for it
a pursuit through city streets and lanes as good as you can get
stunning stuff and so realistic with the rest of the film now set up
hook is in enemy territory - his first time - and a companion killed
he takes refuge in a toilet and with no dialogue we know his thoughts
hellish - he moves out under darkness and is soon seen by a small boy
a loyalist it seems who offers to provide safe passage via a local pub
a bomb is being assembled which explodes with hook standing outside
the boy killed and our man's day is just getting worse as he stumbles on
found by a doctor and his daughter who take him in and tend to him
he's a marked man with various people coming and going in the night
one of the visitors a nationalist now secretly siding with the loyalists
this film takes concentration to keep on top of who is with who
but apart from that it is just so enthralling and realistically done
the tension racked up to the max as hook heads outdoors
he's being pursued by would-be murderers and rescuers
sub-plots a-plenty with young boys and their weapons
one sadly killed in the process of rescuing the main man
final scene - back with his brother/son - to hell and back
amazingly well done film - bleak as - but as realistic as
a bit more of an understanding now of life in belfast '71...
