Memorable films depicting "The Troubles."
by yrnej | created - 30 May 2016 | updated - 21 Feb 2017 | Public"The Troubles" refers to the most recent installment of violence over three decades (1969–1997) between nationalists (mainly self-identified as Irish and/or Roman Catholic) and unionists (mainly self-identified as British and/or Protestant). The term "the Troubles" was previously used to refer to the Irish revolutionary period; it was adopted to refer to the escalating violence in Northern Ireland after 1969. The conflict was the result of discrimination against the nationalist/Catholic minority by the unionist/Protestant majority and the question of Northern Ireland's status within the United Kingdom.
Which of these films depicting the conflict between the Irish and the Brits do you feel is most memorable?
Discuss the list here
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1. Beloved Enemy (1936)
Approved | 90 min | Drama, Romance, War
In 1921, Irish rebels launch an uprising with the aim of creating an Irish republic, independent of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. One of the rebellion's leaders and a ... See full summary »
Director: H.C. Potter | Stars: Merle Oberon, Brian Aherne, Karen Morley, Henry Stephenson
Votes: 385
2. Bloody Sunday (2002)
R | 111 min | Drama, History, War
A dramatization of the Irish civil rights protest march and subsequent massacre by British troops on January 30, 1972.
Director: Paul Greengrass | Stars: James Nesbitt, Tim Pigott-Smith, Nicholas Farrell, Allan Gildea
Votes: 25,737 | Gross: $0.77M
3. The Boxer (1997)
R | 113 min | Drama, Romance, Sport
Young Danny Flynn is released from prison 14 years after "taking the rap" for the IRA and tries to rebuild his life in his old Belfast neighborhood.
Director: Jim Sheridan | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Emily Watson, Daragh Donnelly, Frank Coughlan
Votes: 22,291 | Gross: $5.80M
4. Cal (1984)
R | 102 min | Drama, Thriller, Romance
A young man fraught with guilt longs to defect from the Irish Republican Army (IRA). He is drawn to the widow of a slain Protestant policeman but must hide his secret that he was involved in her husband's murder and evade the authorities.
Director: Pat O'Connor | Stars: Helen Mirren, John Lynch, Donal McCann, John Kavanagh
Votes: 1,628
5. Captain Boycott (1947)
Approved | 92 min | Drama, History
In 1880 Ireland, poor farmers rebel against the abuses of their British landlords.
Director: Frank Launder | Stars: Stewart Granger, Kathleen Ryan, Cecil Parker, Alastair Sim
Votes: 430
6. The Crying Game (1992)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A British soldier kidnapped by the IRA soon befriends one of his captors, who then becomes drawn into the soldier's world.
Director: Neil Jordan | Stars: Stephen Rea, Jaye Davidson, Forest Whitaker, Miranda Richardson
Votes: 60,023 | Gross: $62.55M
7. Fifty Dead Men Walking (2008)
R | 117 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Martin McGartland joins the I.R.A. and feeds information to Britain's Special Branch Agent Fergus.
Director: Kari Skogland | Stars: Ben Kingsley, Jim Sturgess, Kevin Zegers, Natalie Press
Votes: 11,606
8. Five Minutes of Heaven (2009)
R | 89 min | Drama, Thriller
The story of former UVF member Alistair Little. Twenty-five years after Little killed Joe Griffen's brother, the media arrange an auspicious meeting between the two.
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel | Stars: Liam Neeson, James Nesbitt, Anamaria Marinca, Mark Ryder
Votes: 13,249 | Gross: $0.01M
9. Good Vibrations (2012)
Not Rated | 103 min | Biography, Drama, Music
A chronicle of Terri Hooley's life, a record-store owner instrumental in developing Belfast's punk-rock scene.
Directors: Lisa Barros D'Sa, Glenn Leyburn | Stars: Cathal Maguire, Peter Kelly, Charlie Berkeley, Jack Carberry
Votes: 5,591
10. Hunger (2008)
Not Rated | 96 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Irish republican Bobby Sands leads the inmates of a Northern Irish prison in a hunger strike.
Director: Steve McQueen | Stars: Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham, Stuart Graham, Laine Megaw
Votes: 73,519 | Gross: $0.15M
11. Hush-a-Bye Baby (1990)
72 min | Romance
A pregnant Irish girl tries to contact her boyfriend in British prison but her letters are not allowed through to him because she writes in Irish.
Director: Margo Harkin | Stars: Emer McCourt, Michael Liebmann, Cathy Casey, Julie Marie Reynolds
Votes: 120
12. In the Name of the Father (1993)
R | 133 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
An Irish man's coerced confession to an I.R.A. bombing he did not commit results in the imprisonment of his father as well. Meanwhile, a British lawyer fights to clear their names and free them.
Director: Jim Sheridan | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Pete Postlethwaite, Alison Crosbie, Philip King
Votes: 186,940 | Gross: $25.01M
13. Michael Collins (1996)
R | 133 min | Biography, Drama, Thriller
Neil Jordan's historical biopic of Irish revolutionary Michael Collins, the man who led a guerrilla war against the UK, helped negotiate the creation of the Irish Free State, and led the National Army during the Irish Civil War.
Director: Neil Jordan | Stars: Liam Neeson, Aidan Quinn, Julia Roberts, Ian Hart
Votes: 33,731 | Gross: $11.09M
14. Nothing Personal (1995)
R | 86 min | Drama
A raw depiction of the Belfast, Northern Ireland "troubles" as savage tribal warfare. Set shortly after the 1975 cease fire, this movie focuses on the tribulations of Kenny (James Frain), ... See full summary »
Director: Thaddeus O'Sullivan | Stars: Ian Hart, John Lynch, James Frain, Michael Gambon
Votes: 530
15. Odd Man Out (1947)
Approved | 116 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A wounded Irish nationalist leader attempts to evade police following a failed robbery in Belfast.
Director: Carol Reed | Stars: James Mason, Robert Newton, Cyril Cusack, F.J. McCormick
Votes: 11,404
16. Patriots (1996)
Not Rated | 83 min | Thriller
A true story of an American woman caught up in the struggle for Irish independence.
Director: Frank Kerr | Stars: Linda Amendola, Mark Newell, Aidan Parkinson, Dermott Petty
Votes: 108
17. Resurrection Man (1998)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Belfast, in 1970s. Victor Kelly is a young protestant man who hates the Catholics so much that one night he begins to brutally murder them. A reporter soon tries to uncover the murder and ... See full summary »
Director: Marc Evans | Stars: David Williamson, Stuart Townsend, Brenda Fricker, George Shane
Votes: 830
18. '71 (2014)
R | 99 min | Action, Crime, Drama
In 1971, a young and disoriented British soldier is accidentally abandoned by his unit following a riot on the deadly streets of Belfast.
Director: Yann Demange | Stars: Jack O'Connell, Sam Reid, Sean Harris, Paul Popplewell
Votes: 60,107 | Gross: $1.27M
19. Shadow Dancer (2012)
R | 101 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Set in 1990s Belfast, an active member of the IRA becomes an informant for MI5 in order to protect her son's welfare.
Director: James Marsh | Stars: Clive Owen, Andrea Riseborough, Gillian Anderson, Aidan Gillen
Votes: 13,021 | Gross: $0.10M
20. Shake Hands with the Devil (1959)
Approved | 111 min | Action, Drama, History
In 1920s Ireland, I.R.A. members are being led by the war mongering Dr. Sean Lenihan (James Cagney), as they fight oppressive British forces.
Director: Michael Anderson | Stars: James Cagney, Don Murray, Dana Wynter, Glynis Johns
Votes: 1,519
21. Some Mother's Son (1996)
R | 112 min | Drama, History
The 1981 hunger strike in an Irish prison, in which I.R.A. prisoner Bobby Sands led a protest against their treatment as criminals rather than as prisoners of war. It focuses on the mothers of two of the strikers, and their struggle.
Director: Terry George | Stars: Helen Mirren, Fionnula Flanagan, Aidan Gillen, David O'Hara
Votes: 2,990 | Gross: $0.61M
22. This Is the Sea (1997)
R | 100 min | Drama, Romance
Hazel is a Protestant and Malachy a Catholic. Romance between them is threatened by Rohan, who wants Malachy to be recruited and fight for the cause, and by Hazel's brother Jef, who spies on her meetings.
Director: Mary McGuckian | Stars: Samantha Morton, Ross McDade, Richard Harris, Gabriel Byrne
Votes: 386
23. The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006)
Not Rated | 127 min | Drama, War
Against the backdrop of the Irish War of Independence, two brothers fight a guerrilla war against British forces.
Director: Ken Loach | Stars: Cillian Murphy, Pádraic Delaney, Liam Cunningham, Orla Fitzgerald
Votes: 54,554 | Gross: $1.83M
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