Review of '71 (2014) by Gareth W — 10 Oct 2014

OK! Well I grew up in the Troubles and I am a Northern Protestant Unionist who while fully admitting Unionist discrimination was a disgrace feel that the civil rights movement was exploited by a weak IRA who then re grew and expanded a war against the British Army the Police and the Unionist people.

loyalist terror is unjustified, collusion with Crown forces illegal - but here is the rub. I still feel that with the majority of the murders and an unrelenting campaign of bombing shooting torture etc the IRA are the enemy and the Brits however flawed were the good guys.

I declare my hand. I am not neutral. But neither let any fellow travelling post colonial guilt ridden narrative be your alternative. If you want the best movies on the Troubles they are either pro-Republican or focus on that side of the story.

Bloody Sunday and Hunger are excellent and factual but still play the narrative where the unionist community don't exist. 71 at least tries to outline the Loyalists. It has some good cultural references.

some phrases only someone from Belfast would say. Some key themes of class division within the British Army, the role of the RUC, mass rioting, the role of kids and propaganda, secret soldiers and informers, bombings and shootings.

Even the divisions within the IRA are granted a brief appearance. But while this movie is better than most it cannot fit the complexities of Ulster within its slick frames. The other main Troubles point is that there were several key periods.

69-bloody Sunday. Which this film covers. Then the post Bloody Sunday ramp up. This was still civil war in Ulster territory. The 80's with more bombings and an IRA cell structure was more of a hidden war with attacks moving to England in greater numbers.

The 90's was more of the same with an increase in political engagement and loyalist violence moving towards peace. If you take a point in any of those stages you will only get a partial view of the conflict.

Not the fault of the film maker but it means that once again Ulster is a foreign place unlike GB yet somehow the same country. Maybe someone needs to make a trilogy like Mr Peace and Red Riding, or a box set that had episodes of the same incidents take from the perspective of Loyalists, IRA, Brits, Police etc.

.....it would also be good to get some shared cultural references. 90's dance was big with everyone while they were blowing each other up in Ulster....a five minute dialogue in Divis Flats on David Bowie hardly scratches the surface.

Maybe I prefer my movies either hyper real like Bloody Sunday or stylised and making a point like Shadow Dancer but 71 despite its flaw of trying to do too much is still a thoughtful attempt to tell the story of the Troubles and at least nods to most of the main controversies.

My one final caveat is when watching, think how all this would play out in a court of law and then think of the use of the judiciary to fight terror and the use of lawyers by terrorists to avoid justice.

....well worth a look see, don't expect answers, just more questions about my wonderful and frustratingly complex homeland....