SOME MOTHER'S SON
A film review by Laura & Robin Clifford
Copyright 1997 Laura & Robin Clifford
(This review is an excerpt from Reeling, a movie review show hosted by Laura and Robin Clifford, running on Boston Cable TV. Note that the film descriptions vary in completeness due to the fact that they're actually intros for running film clips.)
SOME MOTHER'S SON -----------------
Using the 1981 hunger strike and subsequent election to Parliament of IRA martyr Bobby Sands as its core story, "Some Mother's Son" stars Helen Mirren as Kathleen Quigley, an apolitical teacher and mother in Northern Ireland whose son, Gerry, has fervently embraced the cause of the IRA.
Gerry's terrorist activities, and subsequent arrest, conviction and imprisonment in the notorious prison, The Maze, thrusts him, and Kathleen, into the thick of the things surrounding the British government's revised policy of treating IRA inmates as criminals, not political prisoners, in an attempt to defuse their popular influence outside.
Irish actress, Fionulla Flannigan, appears as Annie Higgins, a pro-IRA mother whose son, Frankie, is also embroiled in the strike. Unlike Kathleen, Annie is dedicated to the cause, no matter what the cost - even the life of her son.
ROBIN:
Dealing with similar circumstances as last falls film, "Michael Collins", "Some Mother's Son" thrusts the viewer into the political fray of the 70's Northern Ireland conflict. "Some Mother's Son" shows a deeply felt conviction to the real politics, then and now, in Ireland, and does it better than the more ambitious "Michael Collins".
Helen Mirren and Fionulla Ferguson, as the mothers representing two sides the same political coin, are outstanding. Mirren is powerful in her role as the apolitical one whose sole concern is the safe, healthy return of her son to his former freedom. Fionulla Ferguson is, if anything, even more powerful in her role as the activist mother willing to sacrifice her son for the IRA cause. I'm surprised Ferguson has not garnered more award attention.
"Some Mother's Son" also benefits from the thing that hurt "Michael Collins": the depth and breadth of the supporting cast is full and rich, right down to the sneaky little English toady working behind the scenes to screw things up for the prisoners. It's this attention to character detail that make a film like this worth seeing.
Tech credits are solid.
The subject matter is selective in its appeal. For me, it appeals.
"Some Mother's Son" doesn't try on as grand a scale as Michael Collins but it succeeds just as well. I give it a B, the same grade I gave Collins.
LAURA:
"Some Mother's Son" is an effective film to make one think about the 'Irish problem.' Are the IRA freedom fighters or terrorists, heroes or hoodlums?
Told through the eyes of an apolitical Belfast mother (the splendid Helen Mirren) who is horrified to discover her son's involved with the IRA and was involved in the shooting of a British soldier ('he was trying to kill ME, Ma'), "Some Mother's Son" makes a nice companion piece to 1994's "In the Name of the Father." The film uses the historical context of the Bobby Sands hunger strike to present its story. Mirren's character is contrasted by another mother played by Fionulla Ferguson, a heart-on-her-sleeve IRA supporter who's son was arrested with Mirren's son. The two become friends even though just about everything they stand for is in conflict. One of the strenths of "Some Mother's Son" is how believable this friendship is. The two womens' acceptance of each other underscores the conflicting emotions the view has while watching the film.
All in all, I thought "Some Mother's Son" was a much more effective film about Irish/British politics than the earlier, more publicized and more overrated "Michael Collins."
B
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