SOME MOTHER'S SON
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1997 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
SOME MOTHER'S SON is a new film about the troubles in Northern Ireland. It is blessed with the same producers (Jim Sheridan and Arthur Lappin), writers (Jim Sheridan and Terry George), and much of the same supporting cast as 1993's highly acclaimed film IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER. Two of the leads (Helen Mirren and John Lynch) starred in 1984's excellent film CAL. All three of the pictures cover the same period and all three suffer from the same bias, but, nevertheless, they are all excellent movies -- taut dramas with high energy and important stories to tell.
In the press kit is the question: "Could you stand by and watch your son starve himself to death for his beliefs?" This correctly sets the context for the film which looks at the Northern Ireland issues from the point of view of the mothers of IRA members. The story uses two quite different mothers as the focal points. The first, Kathleen Quigley (Mirren), believes in non-violence, and although she supports her son, she hates the terrorist precepts of the IRA. The other, Annie Higgins (Fionnula Flanagan), is a card-carrying member who is willing to do whatever it takes to get the British out of Northern Ireland. Both actresses are well cast and give marvelous performances.
The story, based on a true incident, starts in 1979. The film opens with a vintage clip of newly elected Prime Minister Thatcher. "I would particularly like to remember," she says. "some words of Saint Francis of Assisi which are pertinent now. 'Where there is discord, may we bring harmony.'" From there we cut to a scene in which lower-level British bureaucrats are formulating a malevolent strategy toward the IRA. "We want to make the prisons an asset, not a liability," says Farnsworth (Tom Hollander). "It is in the prisons that we will break the backs of the IRA."
One of the keys to the success of the film is the editing by Craig McKay. He has a deft touch, knowing when to cut between the three stories: the British government planners, the prisoners, and the two mothers. North Ireland home life is full of happiness and warm Christmas images. From this peaceful normality we switch to the mothers' boys in terrorist attacks, killing the British.
As in most shows about Northern Ireland, the British are portrayed as people who are evil incarnate and who are constantly scheming on how to oppress the Irish Catholics. With the exception of a single scene, SOME MOTHER'S SON makes the death of the British appear as remote and painless as shooting targets in a video game. In contrast we are treated to large doses of Irish suffering. There is a great scene in the show where Catholic priest Father Daly (Gerard McSorley) prays not only for the IRA member who died in a hunger strike but also the British officials killed to avenge his death. The IRA members view his sermonette as heresy and walk out from the church in protest.
The only other voice of reason in the show comes from Kathleen. "A man was shot," she tells her friend, Bobby Sands (Lynch). "But he was a soldier," explains Bobby. He views shooting them in the back as not the same thing as killing an actual human.
Soon her son Gerald (Aidan Gillen) and Annie's son Frank (David O'Hara) are tried for various terrorist activities. "I don't need a lawyer," says defiant Gerald. "I'm not a criminal. I'm a prisoner of war. I don't recognize the court." Once in prison they join Bobby Sands and others there in various protests ranging from not wearing prison clothes to the hunger strike that costs ten of them their lives.
The prison officials try everything to get them to put their uniforms on, including removing the can where their human wastes go. The prisoners protest this by lining the walls of their cells with their excrement.
The movie manages to provide the facts without trying to gross out the audience. The wrenching of hunger protesters as they near death provides the most horrific scenes in the film, but this is not a movie that scares you; it is one that moves you to compassion for the mothers and their plight. Secondarily, it makes you sympathetic to the prisoners, no matter how heinous their original crimes. The director, Terry George, knows how to lay the tension on thick. This is a show that will keep your eyes glued to the screen as the events unfold.
When the editor cuts back to the government officials, it provides almost comic relief as they are so inept. One of the officials, a man named Harrington (Tim Woodward), wants to be in charge of spin control. He insists they must change strategies only because "we need to reclaim the moral high ground." Morals are relegated to the role of political battle techniques.
The performances by Mirren and Flanagan get better and better as the show evolves. As might be expected, Kathleen and Annie go from distrust to friendship, and Kathleen becomes hardened by the conditions she sees. All of the mothers have it in their power with the signing of a single document to have their sons fed intravenously and thereby save their lives. The sons are against this, wanting to be martyrs for the cause. Even if you know how it ends, I didn't, you will be swept up into the circumstances that lead to the conclusion.
Perhaps the mothers' entire state of mind can be summed up in one of the interchanges close to the end of the picture. Annie tells the government official, "My son is not a terrorist." The official looks her sternly in the eye, and corrects her with, "Your son is a convicted murderer."
SOME MOTHER'S SON runs 1:51. It is rated R for scenes of people starving to death, for some violence, and for profanity. The show would be fine for mature teenagers. I recommend this excellent film to you and give it ***.
**** = A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = Totally and painfully unbearable picture.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: January 23, 1997
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews