Maze (2017)

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Movie
Original title Maze
Country of production Ireland
original language English
Publishing year 2017
length 92 minutes
Rod
Director Stephen Burke
script Stephen Burke
production Brendan J. Byrne ,
Jane Doolan
camera David Grennan
cut John O'Connor
occupation

Maze is a film directed by Stephen Burke and released in Irish theaters on September 22, 2017 and in UK theaters. The film about a breakout from the Maze Prison is inspired by a true story. The breakout of 38 IRA prisoners from an HM Prison in 1983 was the largest in Europe after the end of World War II.

action

In the Maze Prison near Lisburn in Northern Ireland in the early 1980s. During the Northern Ireland Conflict , known in English as The Troubles , which dominated Northern Irish politics at the time, a prison officer worked in the Maze Prison, a maximum security prison that is considered escape-proof. But the prison inmate Larry Marley develops an escape plan. In 1983, 38 inmates managed to escape with the help of his idea.

Historical background

Long Kesh - geograph.org.uk - 341035.jpg
The Maze Prison in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, was the scene of the largest prison breakout in Europe after the end of World War II in 1983
Façade of Cork Male Prison - geograph.org.uk - 708644.jpg
The film was shot, among other places, in Cork prison

The Maze Prison , also known as Long Kesh, was from 1971 to 2000 a maximum security prison near Lisburn in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. A jailbreak from Maze Prison in 1983, in which 38 inmates escaped, went down as the largest in Europe after the end of the Second World War. Most of the escapees were caught. 27,000 heavily armed men, including 9,500 British soldiers, the Ulster Defense Regiment reserve force and the Northern Ireland police, had been looking for the refugees in the province of Ulster the day before. The escapees had left the prison in a more conventional manner, overpowering the two guards on duty, waiting for a 4:00 p.m. van to arrive bringing drinks for tea time, and boarding the vehicle's back. One of the inmates hid on the floor of the cab and forced the driver, at gunpoint, to drive to the triple-safety main gate on Halftown Road, which continues on to Belfast.

Among the escapes was Gerry Kelly , who is now a member of the Sinn Féin Legislative Assembly and who had written a book about his outbreak. Kelly and Frank Stagg had been on hunger strike a few years earlier in a prison. Two other escapees were shot, but survived. Jailer James Ferris died of heart failure after a stab wound during the attempted escape. A spokesman for Sinn Féin, the political organization of the IRA, had announced after the outbreak that there was cheering again in Belfast's Catholic residential gettos. He described the escapes as heroes, equal to those British soldiers who had managed to escape from the Thuringian prisoner-of-war castle Colditz in the Second World War . One of the escaped convicts was linked years later to the Provisional IRA bombing of the Conservative Party conference in Brighton, which killed five people, including Anthony Berry , vice-chairman of the parliamentary group. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the rest of the government narrowly escaped the attack.

Producer Jane Doolan explained that prison break films are a genre of their own. Maze is a fascinating thriller because there is a remarkable story behind it, namely how 38 prisoners escaped from the Maze Prison on the roof of a food truck, and from the safest prison in Europe at the time. The Maze Prison was considered an escape-proof fortress because tunneling would only have been possible with jackhammers or explosives, because the concrete runway of a former Royal Air Force airfield is located under the buildings.

production

Staff and cast

In Maze is an Irish-Swedish co-production. The producer Jane Doolan said of the partnership with the Swedish film Väst and with Filmgate Films that only this made it possible to realize the film. Jane Doolan of Mammoth Films and Brendan J Byrne of Cyprus Avenue Films were producers . Maze has also received funding from the Irish Film Board Scannán na hÉireann, Northern Ireland Screen, RTÉ and BAI. The film received regional support from Cork County Council and its Arts Office. Directed by Stephen Burke , who also wrote the screenplay for the film. After the comedy Two Weddings and a Fall of Love from 2009, it is the second film directed by Burke. Maze means a labyrinth in English .

Tom Vaughan-Lawlor took on the role of Larry Marley , a member of the Provisional IRA and one of the leading figures behind the maze prison breakout that the film focuses on. Eileen Walsh took on the role of his wife Kate. Martin McCann can be seen in the role of Oscar. Barry Ward plays the jailer Gordon Close, who has a complicated friendship with Marley. Niamh McGrady plays Jill, Patrick Buchanan plays Gerry, and Andy Kellegher stars as Overseer Williams. Tim Creed took on the role of Brendan McFarlane . The real McFarlane had been in command of the Republican prisoners at Maze Prison after his conviction and officially appeared in 1981 as the spokesman for the ten IRA prisoners who went on hunger strike one after the other to be recognized as political prisoners.

Filming

Filming started in April 2016. They took place in and around the city of Cork City's recently closed prison for over four weeks . Filming took place in Sweden for another week.

Line producer Stephen Davenport commented on the filming in Cork prison that Irish prison officials supported them while the film was being made. The film crew also received help from Film In Cork. The prison in Cork provided the perfect setting for the story of the breakout from the infamous Maze Prison, said Davenport. The cost of production was around £ 1.7 million.

Marketing and Publishing

As part of the Cannes Film Festival in May 2017 , producer Ryan Kampe carried out a private buyers' screening for international distributors. With H-Block by Jim Sheridan , a second film was presented there, which has the breakout from the Maze Prison as the theme.

Lionsgate will distribute the film in the UK. The film was released in Irish cinemas and in UK cinemas on September 22, 2017. The film was presented at the Galway Film Fleadh from July 15, 2017 and at the 24th Oldenburg International Film Festival in September 2017.

Awards

Dublin Film Critics' Circle Awards 2017

  • Nomination for Best Irish Feature Film

The Irish Film & Television Academy Awards 2018

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Gate to Freedom In: Der Spiegel 40/1983, October 3, 1983.
  2. ↑ a b c d Cate McCurry: Cannes shows Maze escape film In: Belfast Telegraph, 23 May 2017.
  3. ↑ a b Claire Williamson: Jamie Dornan, Cillian Murphy and Pierce Brosnan to star in Maze prison break film In: belfasttelegraph.co.uk, April 28, 2017.
  4. ↑ a b c d #IrishFilm: Principal photography begins in Cork on Stephen Burke's Maze In: scannain.com, April 4, 2016.
  5. ↑ Maze In: filmvast.se. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  6. ↑ a b http://www.screendaily.com/news/maze-mfa-among-visit-films-slate-for-cannes/5117731.article
  7. ^ Adrian Rutherford: IRA bomber McFarlane who killed five in bar blast given royal pardon as part of extradition deal In: Belfast Telegraph, 25 August 2016.
  8. ↑ Katie McNeice: 'Maze' starring Tom Vaughan-Lawlor leads film in Cork 2016 Highlights In: iftn.ie, December 19, 2016.
  9. ↑ a b Jeremy Kay: 'Maze', 'MFA' among Visit Films slate for Cannes In: screendaily.com, May 12, 2017.
  10. ↑ Eithne Shortall: Producers vying for breakout hits with Maze films In: The Times, May 21 2017th
  11. ↑ Esther McCarthy: 'Pilgrimage', 'Maze' and 'Song Of Granite' heading to Galway Film Fleadh In: screendaily.com, May 10, 2017.
  12. ↑ Program 2017 In: filmfest-oldenburg.de. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
  13. ↑ The Dublin Film Critics' Circle Awards announced for 2017 In: ifi.ie. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  14. ↑ Hannah Moran: The nominations for the IFTA Film Awards 2018 have been announced In: evoke.ie, January 11, 2018.