Bloody Sunday (film)

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Movie
German title Bloody Sunday
Original title Bloody Sunday
Country of production United Kingdom , Ireland
original language English
Publishing year 2002
length 110 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Paul Greengrass
script Paul Greengrass
production Arthur Lappin
music Dominic Muldowney
camera Ivan Strasburg
cut Clare Douglas
occupation

Bloody Sunday is a semi-documentary drama directed by Paul Greengrass that first aired in the UK in 2002 on Independent Television .

The film deals with the Irish Bloody Sunday of 1972 , when British paratroopers shot 27 Irish protesters. The screenplay was based on the book Eyewitness Bloody Sunday by Don Mullan .

action

Ivan Cooper is a member of the Northern Irish Parliament . Although he is a Protestant, he campaigns for the civil rights of the mostly Catholic Irish and is the chairman of a peaceful civil rights movement. This organized a demonstration for January 30, 1972 through the Northern Irish town of Derry . Although the organizers explicitly point out their purely peaceful intentions, British paratroopers are deployed to prevent "hooligan rioting".

When the demonstration begins, the civil rights activists go out singing We-Shall-Overcome . However, among them are also violent youths who leave the main train and throw stones at British police officers who are supposed to ensure security. They initially defend themselves with tear gas , water cannons and rubber bullets . Cooper tries to get the youth back to the main train, which remains peaceful; the paratroopers are held back by the chief of operations so that the situation does not escalate.

Finally, some of the paratroopers are attacked with stones by demonstrators, the soldiers also claim to have seen shots. They are firing back with live ammunition and now the conflict is escalating completely. There are the first deaths on the part of the demonstrators, the commandant of the paratroopers gives the order to attack without authorization. Initially, only the actually violent young people are affected, but when they flee in the direction of the peaceful main train, the civil rights activists also come into the line of fire.

At the end of the day, 13 Irish protesters were dead and 14 seriously injured. The British Army denies any guilt. Ivan Cooper, himself in shock, tries to comfort the relatives. Meanwhile, the British military officials involved declare that they only resisted the violence of the Irish and that their actions were absolutely necessary. Cooper gives a press conference at the end of the day in which he explains:

"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. "
German: “I just want to say this to the British Government ... you know what you just did, right? You destroyed the civil rights movement and gave the IRA the greatest success it will ever have. All over town tonight, young men ... children will join the IRA and bring the storm that you have sown. "

implementation

The film was first shown in German cinemas on February 7, 2002 at the Berlinale , where it won the Golden Bear . The regular theatrical release was on December 20, 2004. Over a year later, on February 13, 2006, it was broadcast on ARTE's program. There was initially no German dubbing , the film ran with subtitles . The dubbed German version was released in theaters on November 13, 2008.

The Bloody Sunday soundtrack consists only of U2's Sunday, bloody Sunday song , which is played during the credits. Otherwise there is no music, but there is a lot of sound effects . The accents of the actors are sometimes so strong that even English-speaking viewers have to fall back on subtitles.

In order to make the film as authentic as possible, no extra lights were used and only a flexible hand-held camera was used throughout the film , so that Bloody Sunday sometimes looks like a documentary film .

When writing the script and also during the shooting, a number of real witnesses were interviewed, which further increases the authenticity of the film. The real Ivan Cooper supported the actor James Nesbitt , who was supposed to play him, in the implementation of his role.

Reviews

The film was largely praised for its realistic rendering and authenticity. The events are described neutrally and factually, and the director succeeded in depicting the spiral of violence on Bloody Sunday.

“Seldom has the cinema been staged so close to the action. Seldom has the cinematic representation of tragic political events been so dense, so immediate, so moving, so revolting, so repulsive and so moving as in Bloody Sunday, which tells the story of the bloody end of a peaceful march for civil rights. "
“Authenticity is the key to the secret. Authenticity through camera work that is always right in the middle - in the crowd, in the military headquarters, in the family, in the smallest room, leaving the lovers between them. Authenticity through a cut that reflects the hectic tension, the excited premonition of a special day. You step into the short scenes as if you happened to join them at that moment. In a meeting, in a love scene, in the mourning of the dead, in the paramilitary troops that have been freed from all reins. This combination of camera work and editing, which is reminiscent of live reports, guarantees the impression that you are there up close, and increases the sympathy and dismay beyond the normal cinema dimension. "

Awards

Bloody Sunday won the Golden Bear

The film was unable to take part in the 2003 Oscar competition because it violated the third Academy rule: Less than six months after its premiere in a London cinema, it had already been shown on British and Irish television.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for Bloody Sunday . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , October 2008 (PDF; test number: 115 620 DVD).
  2. ↑ They were paratroopers, so paratroopers, not paramilitaries. Error in the original, not by Wikipedia.
  3. ↑ Jutta Hopfgartner, Irische Impressionen ( Memento of the original from March 8, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , in: d'Lëtzebuerger Land , November 15, 2002. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.land.lu