Friday, January 17 at 3:00 pm
Bloody Sunday posits an
immediate, you-are-there re-creation of Ireland's most controversial
contemporary tragedy. From dusk to dawn, the events of January 30, 1972,
are presented in convincing
verité fashion; by employing rapid
fade-to-black transitions, director Paul Greengrass approaches two
perspectives with equal anticipation of potential disaster, based on
facts as reported in Don Mullan's politically influential book
Eyewitness Bloody Sunday.
Ivan Cooper (James Nesbitt) is, ironically, a Protestant Member of
Parliament, leading a peaceful but tensely expectant civil rights march
through the Catholic "bogside" of the city of Derry, in protest of the
British practice of internment without trial. He watches in horror as
his throng of unarmed protesters splinters against British
paramilitaries who impulsively open fire. No question where
Greengrass's sympathies lie (heard but not seen, the first shots are
British), but despite charges of inaccuracy and bias,
Bloody Sunday
will likely stand as the definitive cinematic representation of that
horrible day when deadly confusion reigned supreme. (U2's "Sunday
Bloody Sunday" plays over the closing credits; any other choice would
have been blasphemous.)
--Jeff Shannon/Amazon.com
