Review of Michael Collins (1996) by Niel K — 24 Jul 2008

This is the story of the tragic life of one of the Irish heroes, Michael Collins. He is just like what you would imagine a young Irish guerilla leader would be like - smart, intelligent, idealistic, romantic, dashing, good looking, daring, bold, passionate, but lonely and tragic. Liam Neeson brilliantly brings out life in Michael Collins.

The film portrays the scary situation when the British colonial government tried to repress the Irish independent movement. It reminds me of the films about my country's independent movement against the Dutch colonial government I had to watch in school (as part of the 'nationalistic and patriotism building campaign'). Any colonial government seems to be depicted the same in films - ruthless and brutal. The scenes of interrogations freaks me the most.

But this film is not only about torture and war and death. There's hope and dream, and love. Julia Roberts plays Collin's love Kitty Kiernan, with convincing accent according to me (though not sure if real Irish people would think the same).

The movie might be criticised by historians for taking liberties with facts, but it's a very good movie played by good actors. Stephen Rea (as Ned Broy), Aidan Quinn (as Collins' best friend Harry Boland) and Alan Rickman (as President Eamon de Valera) all gave very good performances here.