Day
177 ‘71
[2014]
Screenplay Gregory Burke
Director Yann Demange
Cinematography Tat Radcliffe
Music David
Holmes
Leads Jack
O’Connell, Killian Scott, David Wilmot, Barry Keoghan, Babou Ceesay, Sean
Harris, Charlie Murphy, Richard Dormer, Sam Reid, Paul Anderson, Martin McCann,
Corey McKinley
Production Crab Apple Films, Warp Films, Film4, BFI Film
Fund, Screen Yorkshire, Creative Scotland
IMDb 7.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes 95%
Jack
O’Connell has come a long way since his days as Cook when Skins started
to go downhill. He recently won the critics over with Sienna Miller in the West
End for his performances in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and I advise you to
watch Starred Up if you haven’t seen it yet for his emotional execution
of a torrid father-son relationship. In ’71 O’Connell plays a young
British soldier who gets separated from his unit at the height of the Troubles
in Belfast. The tension is rife after Demange exposes us to the violence of
Belfast early on. His experience with such street violence in Top Boy
shining through. Throughout the film it is not clear who O’Connell’s character
can trust, and this comes across well as I found myself wondering who he was
safe with. The acting is solid all around and I particularly enjoyed young Corey
McKinley’s brief appearance as a Loyalist youth. Rising star Barry Keoghan also features - he just has a face for the movies that boy. It’s a gruesome film which
suitably matches the brutality of the Troubles and adds to the list of films
that will make you like and hate the army simultaneously. It’s easy to see why
Demange’s next feature is headed by McConaughey and I’m eager to see it having
watched this. It’s clinker this like.
Acting 4 / 4
Writing 3.5 / 4
Cinematography 3.5 / 4
Music 2.5 / 4
HWF rating 3 / 4
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