In the Name of the Father
Directed by Jim Sheridan
Reviewed by Sean Magill
First of all, do go and see In the Name of the Father. It is a powerful, harrowing and at times uplifting account of an unjust legal system.
The dramatisation of the story of Gerry Conlon (played by Daniel Day-Lewis), wrongfully convicted of pub bombings carried out by the IRA in Guildford in 1974, and his father Guiseppe (Peter Postlethwaite) is convincingly told.
The agony and bewilderment of innocent people trapped by Britain's Prevention of Terrorism Act are brilliantly portrayed by the central characters.
I found the Belfast riot scene at the start of the film inspiring. The willingness of the people to come out on the streets to defend each other against the army is an excellent portrayal of the solidarity of the nationalist working class in occupied Ireland.
I do have a number of beefs about some of the minor characters. Gays and blacks in the prison are simply stereotyped. The prison warders are portrayed as a bunch of nice guys doing a tough job. This was definitely not the impression I got from Johnnie Walker of the Birmingham Six when I interviewed him about his experiences in British jails after a similar wrongful conviction.
Art MacEoin, in his review of the movie for Irish Republican paper An Phoblacht, also points out, "The political realities are inescapable ... Those realities are that the British establishment systematically murdered Guiseppe Conlon, that the same people stole 15 years from the lives of his son Gerry, Paul Hill, Carole Richardson and Paddy Armstrong and that these crimes and those against the Maguire family were committed by the British establishment as part of its wider war against the Irish people."
MacEoin also says that ,the main IRA character played by Don Baker, "is tough, uncompromising and determined, and obviously deeply impresses Gerry Conlon, leading to his politicisation and the urgency and self-belief in his fight for justice. The IRA man ends up transforming the attitude of other prisoners too ... As if it had gone too far in presenting the politically unacceptable — an attractive and inspiring IRA character — the film later attempts to portray the same character as cold and ruthless. It looks like a needless and unconvincing attempt at counterbalance."
In the Name of the Father is based on Gerry Conlon's autobiography, Proved Innocent. In a recent interview, Gerry said, "Nothing seems to have changed in relation to the judiciary. More people have been wrongfully imprisoned since we were released four and a half years ago. The judiciary seems to have an inability to reform itself. They have never apologised to us and we never got any compensation."
Despite the obvious lies and collusion between police and lawyers in the case, none have been punished, and the police involved have been promoted.
The film demonstrates it is possible to expose the system. I only hope that more mainstream directors show Jim Sheridan's courage.