Movie Review: Bloody Sunday

Story: Is your daily rage abating? Do you find that you are tsk-tsking at the same old newspaper headlines these days? Well, get on over to your local cinema and check out this powerful 'documentary-like' reenactment of the turning point in the troubles between Northern Ireland and England. It is January 1972 - the location is Londonderry. A peaceful march for civil rights turns ugly when the army shoots 27 people and 13 are left dead. The escalation of violence has continued for 30 years, with over 3000 dead. This one incident in time spirited thousands of Irish to join the Irish Republican Army.

Director Paul Greengrass' use of handheld cameras and jumpy editing gives you the feeling of watching news footage of the actual event. I was tense for the entire film. It is very chilling. If you are not familiar with 'the troubles' in Ireland it will be quite a challenge for you to understand.

Acting: Brilliant work by all involved. With particular kudos to James Nesbitt and Nicholas Farrell. Many members of the cast were survivors of the tragic events 30 years ago. I would imagine that tensions were high on the filming of this piece.

Critters: Thankfully, none.

Food: None.

Visual Art: None.

Blatant Product Placement: None.

Soundtrack: None, except a powerful U2 tune during the rolling of the end credits.

Opening Titles: Stark black and white intro with one short historical background reference.

Theater Audience: Crowded for an early Saturday showing. I lost count at about fifty people. There were only two other women that I could see. Obviously not a chick flick. Most of the guys looked like they had spent many years in a pub, or were IRA members. It was a very tense crowd. At lest ten of the guys has their heads shaved. I was a little scared.

Squirm Scale: 0 (I should have a rage scale for this film).

Predictability Level: Not applicable.

Tissue Usage: 1

Oscar Worthy: Yes.

Nit Picking: Politicking, not nit picking, would be more appropriate for this category. Don't get me started about the troubles.

Big Screen or Rental: Here is a list of all of the films with the Troubles as a theme from 1968 - Present. (I admit to having seen many of them): A Further Gesture, The Break, A Prayer for the Dying, A Sense of Loss, Acceptable Levels, An Everlasting Piece Angel, Bloody Sunday, Blown Away, Bogwoman, Cal, Giro City, H3, Harry's Game, Hennessy, Hidden Agenda, High Boot Benny, Hostage,In the Name of the Father, Love Lies Bleeding, Maeve, Nothing Personal, Patriot Games, Resurrection Man, Some Mother's Son, Sunday, The Boxer, The Crying Game, The Devil's Own, The Eliminator, The Jackal, The Long Good Friday, The Violent Enemy, This is the Sea, Titanic Town.

Length: 105 tense minutes

LOBO HOWLS: 8