Review of '71 (2014) by Steven G — 24 Jul 2015

71 (A) Jack O'Connell the actor who starred in the movie Unbroken is the lead in this fantastic uncompromising unflinching look at the brutal violence in Belfast Northern Ireland in 1971. Jack plays Gary Hook who is a British soldier who is about to be transferred to Belfast. Gary has a younger brother who is at a home for children. He tells his younger brother what his superior officers have told him, "Do not worry, at least you're not leaving the country." Nothing could be further from the truth. He actually might be better off going to another country.

To understand the movie you have to understand some of the background. The Protestant citizens of Northern Ireland are basically at war with the Catholic citizens. The Catholics many of them members of the IRA (Irish Republican Army) hate the British soldiers who have an uneasy alliance with Protestant fighters. The IRA wants Northern Ireland to be independent from England.

The movie quickly becomes exciting when British soldiers are brought into Belfast to find IRA weapons. You see a crowd of young Irish Catholics forming who start spitting, cursing, and throwing rocks at the British soldiers. Very similar to the current Israeli Palestinian conflict. Soon the situation quickly unravels into full scale violence. The British soldiers try to show restraint but soon a British soldier is shot by radical Irish teenagers. Gary starts to chase the IRA youth who has stolen a gun. Soon Gary (British soldier) is injured and separated from his troops in what is basically a war zone. There is a fantastic chase scene through the alleys of Belfast. This series of events leads to terrifying scenes of Gary fighting to survive.

There are so many fantastic elements to this movie. Treating Gary's wounds without any painkillers. A good Irish family trying to do the right thing for Gary but being terrified as being identified as collaborators if they take him to a hospital. The younger more radical IRA members trying to kill him versus the older more reality minded IRA who are trying to save him because they fear a full scale British onslaught if the British soldier is killed. Now the Protestants are supposed to be helping the British but they also want to kill Gary because Gary has seen them make a bomb that has exploded. He can identify them. Meanwhile you have the British troops desperately trying to find Gary thinking that the Protestants will help them.

If this all sounds complicated, it's meant to be. It's hard to tell one side from the other which is the point. The Protestants and the IRA hate each other. They supposedly have very different beliefs but the reality is they are incredibly alike. Both sides hate each other. They supposedly have very different beliefs but the reality is they are incredibly alike with regard for their deep hatred for the other. Both sides are willing to kill in the name of their extreme radical beliefs. They are two sides of the same coin who think they are different but if they looked carefully at the other, they would see their own reflection. Hatred for no good reason. Stuck in the middle is an innocent British soldier who doesn't even know if he's Catholic or Protestant. You assume that he went into the army because he grew up in some kind of home for orphans and that this is his way of escaping. The army is more a convenience for him rather than something that he's that dedicated to.

There are all kinds of war movies. You have the ones that glorify violence with unrealistic scenes meant to entertain. Then you have great war films like American Sniper that show the horrible effects of war but have some commercial overtones or Hollywood in them. 71 is a terrifying totally realistic look at a warzone. Young children are just as dangerous as the adults. There is nothing contrived or commercial about this terrifying look at prejudice and hatred. A fantastic film but a must avoid for people upset by realistic war films that refuse to compromise or tone down reality. If this type of movie doesn't upset you then you should run to see it.