Bloody Sunday (2002)

Director:

Paul Greengrass

Writer:

Paul Greengrass (written by)

Release Date:

25 January 2002 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | History

Plot:

A dramatization of the Irish civil rights protest march and subsequent massacre by British troops on January 30, 1972.

Plot Keywords:

Realism | Political Activism | Irish Catholic | Political Protest | Civil Disobedience

Awards:

19 wins & 21 nominations

Cast

James Nesbitt	...	Ivan Cooper
Allan Gildea	...	Kevin McCorry
Gerard Crossan	...	Eamonn McCann
Mary Moulds	...	Bernadette Devlin
Carmel McCallion	...	Bridget Bond (as Carmel Mccallion)
Tim Pigott-Smith	...	Major General Ford
Nicholas Farrell	...	Brigadier Maclellan
Christopher Villiers	...	Major Steele (as Chris Villiers)
James Hewitt	...	Colonel Tugwell
Declan Duddy	...	Gerry Donaghy
Edel Frazer	...	Gerry's girl
Joanne Lindsay	...	Mary Donaghy
Mike Edwards	...	Soldier 027
Gerry Hammond	...	Para F
Jason Stammers	...	Para G

Also Known As:

Sunday (Australia) (TV title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

UK | Ireland

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:14 | Australia:MA | Denmark:15 | France:U | Netherlands:16 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Argentina:13 | Iceland:14

Filming Locations:

Ballymun, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland

Company:

Bórd Scannán na hÉireann

Trivia:

To make this movie as authentic as possible, no lights were used in the movie and the camera work was entirely hand-held

Quotes:

Ivan Cooper: I just want to say this to the British Government... You know what you've just done, don't you? You've destroyed the civil rights movement, and you've given the IRA the biggest victory it will ever have. All over this city tonight, young men... boys will be joining the IRA, and you will reap a whirlwind.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ivan Cooper Remembers (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Documentary style drama recreating the events of 30th January1972 in Derry

Although initially difficult to get into, Bloody Sunday proved worthwhile persevering, as the latter half puts the viewer in the carnage.

The acting, especially James Nesbit is excellent, the recreation of the mood is superb although it was obvious with the constant close ups that there was very little budget to recreate the scenery. The geography was never explained and therefore would leave a viewer without prior knowledge of the area disorientated.

The documentary suffered from not being able to set the scene, a lot had happened in the week prior to the Civil Rights march that put both the participants and the security forces on edge and made the advance more significant. The question of why the Paras were sent to Derry were never fully explored.

Overall it was flawless recreation of events from the point of view taken by the film makers on this particular incident. It is worth noting that this is based on the Irish Governments review of the Widgery report into Bloody Sunday. (NB the Widgery report is mostly considered by nationalists to be a white wash)