IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER

One of the great movies about the Irish, for my taste.

Based on the true story of “The Guildford Four,” accused of the bombing of a pub, during the time of the troubles in the North c. the 1970s.

The four—three Irish men (and the father of one, the would be fifth, but if you haven’t seen it I don’t want to give anything away, though it’s history now) and an English woman—were innocent.

And as it turned out the authorities knew that, but sentenced them to long stretches in a British prison anyway, after being framed.

Daniel Day-Lewis stars and gives one of his greatest performances, in my view. And there’s a whole lot of other great acting in it too.

I caught it tonight on cable, and somehow it connected to the spirit of the season, the theme of loss and redemption, of high ideals in the face of base realities, as well as connecting in some obvious and not so obvious way with events lately, the loss of two brothers over a few months time, the obvious media pile up on Obama over guilt by association (while ignoring similar cases for both the other candidates, i.e. pastoral endorsers of their campaigns who have made heinous generalizations about entire religions or ethnicities, etc.).

I hadn’t seen this flick in years, and was overwhelmed with the power of it once again. It’s about injustice, oppression, prejudice, and cynicism, but it’s also about hope, grace, familial love and loyalty, and fighting back without stooping to the tactics of your enemy.

Something, this country used to be known for, at times, in its history. Wouldn’t it be nice to be known for that again.

If you haven’t seen this film, and weren’t around during the political mobilizations of the 1960s here, or anytime anywhere else, this movie will make you feel what it was like, and still is, when you participate in a righteous cause, speak truth to power, and join others to defend the innocent and fight for change.

Pretty good for a movie.