It’s 1971. Fresh out of army training, Gary Hook (Jack
O’Connell) is given Belfast as his first tour. During what is supposed to be a
routine search of a largely Republican neighbourhood, Hook is left stranded by
his naïve Lieutenant. Alone and wounded, Hook has to somehow survive and find
his way back to the safety of the barracks.
Right from the off, you know where ’71 is going: shots of the squad going through tough-as-hell
training; being briefed on their operation, where The Powers That Be describe
Belfast as “Just another part of the UK;” the troops nervously walking along
terraced streets. What sets director Yaan Demange’s first feature film apart
from most heart-pounding thrillers is just how unflinchingly violent and
visceral it is. This is a dirt-under-its-chipped-fingernails depiction of The
Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Shot largely using handheld cameras (with sometimes
uncomfortably close close-ups), Anthony Radcliffe’s cinematography makes you
feel like you’re watching a documentary, creating an agonising amount of
tension. The sound design is also impressively handled; you will jump whilst watching ’71. Explosions, gunshots, knives sinking
into flesh, they all follow moments of calm silence, all sounding like they’re
happening right in front of you.
Darling of British film and TV right now, Jack O’Connell
(Eden Lake, Skins, Starred Up) has
virtually no dialogue in ’71, instead
we watch him hesitate as he is given orders, cower in dark alleyways, or psych
himself up, knowing the only way out is to kill a Provisional who’s got him
cornered. O’Connell has the task of carrying the film, and he does an
outstanding job. You forget you’re watching an actor and instead end up completely
immersed, convinced you’re seeing a terrified, ordinary young man doing all he
can to stay alive.
Sean Harris has made a career out of playing murky, complex
roles, explaining his character with a glance or an expression, rather than reams
of dialogue (Channel 4’s Red Riding
and Southcliffe), doing the same here
as the captain of a group of undercover soldiers, trying to flare up the
hostility between the old-guard IRA and the radical Provisionals. As the
quietly simmering Sandy Browning, Harris’s scowls are possibly more frightening
than the Provisionals who stalk Hook. Browning has his own corrupt agenda; he works
for the British army, but he’s not on anyone’s side.
Sam Reid (The
Railway Man, The Riot Club) is
given the Hopeless Man in Charge role as Lieutenant Armitage, but Reid manages
to make Armitage more than just a war film cliché. Armitage is a kind man, who
makes all the wrong choices. He doesn’t want his men in riot gear, as he wants
the officers to look approachable; a decision he soon ends up regretting when
he walks Belfast’s streets. Armitage is distraught when he realises he left one
of his men behind, doing everything in his power to get Hook back, only to be
obstructed by his superior, Browning.
A special mention has to go to Corey McKinley as a Loyalist
child who comes to Hook’s aid. McKinley is a cynical old man trapped in a young
boy’s body, lightening the mood with his constant swearing. Both O’Connell and
McKinnley are terrific, but McKinley runs away with it whenever the two actors
are onscreen together.
The only criticism you could have with ’71 is that it doesn’t delve too deeply
into The Troubles. With the exception of O’Connell and Reid, the English are
made out to be callous and violent, making more enemies instead of keeping the
peace, but that’s as much insight as you get into the height of the Northern
Ireland conflict. Demange uses Belfast as the location for a homage to John
Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13
and that’s it.
’71 is
one of this year’s best British films. Very few thrillers manage to turn
audiences into emotional wrecks, yet Demange handles the onslaught of action like
he’s already one of cinema’s greats, throwing you head first into the frightening
world that was early seventies Belfast. You’re right there with O’Connell as he’s
chased, shot at, or hiding. You absolutely want him to make it back alive.
4 out of 5
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