Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageSome Mother's Son (1996)
Director: Terry George
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
As the title suggests, this film about the 1981 Republican Hunger Strikes, by Belfast-born writer/director Terry George, is more interested in human emotions than political manoeuvring. Ten men starved themselves to death when the IRA prisoners' strategic request for 'political' status came up against the Thatcher administration's determined 'criminalisation' of the terrorists. Into that grinding head-to-head, we follow two very different mothers whose boys are part of the protest. Mirren's Kathleen Quigley is a quiet middle-class widow, shocked by the conviction of her eldest son Gerard (Gillen) for murdering a British soldier, while Flanagan's Annie Higgins, from staunch Republican stock, takes pride in her son Frank (O'Hara), when he's arrested after the same incident. Detailing their contrasting responses to a traumatic situation allows the film to tap unpartisan sympathy while keeping its own counsel on the terminal machinations of the ideologues on both sides. Performances scar the screen, while George shows keen organisational instinct and delivers the urgent immediacy of news footage throughout. IRA propaganda it is not. Instead, it's a plea for simple humanity over ideological point-scoring, an urgent message even yet, no matter that the film seems to expose old wounds. Of all the films to have come out of the Troubles, this one offers the most complex analysis and cuts the deepest.Author: TJ
Cast & crew
Director: Terry George
Producer: Jim Sheridan, Arthur Lappin, Edwin Burke
Cast: Helen Mirren, Fionnula Flanagan, Aidan Gillen, John Lynch, David O'Hara, Tom Hollander, Tim Woodward, Ciaran Hinds, Gerard McSorley full cast
Duration: 111 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
The 10 worst date movies
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made
Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films
Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas
10 unlikely badboy biopics
Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects
Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'
The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing
Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day
Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing
What do you think?
Post your review now