"Bloody Sunday" (2002) - Movie Review

There are movies which need to be regarded as a respect for the true events it portrays. It becomes difficult and extremely emotional to view it as a stand point of a critic and also as a regular movie goer. The content and concentration of the subject matter crosses those barriers and for the period of running turn ourselves in no more than shedding tears and sorry for the innocent souls lost, and also realize that it is the least we can do. The roots in the film making of “United 93” originates from “Bloody Sunday” both directed by Paul Greengrass. It is the empathizing loyal nature to the gravity of the event given by him which makes this movie powerful to make us believe it is not a movie. It is life and it beats up to the reactions of the people. This life is what makes this a movie more than a matter of substance.

The film is the events focusing right before and after the massacre by British troops over the people of Derry of Northern Ireland which painted the Sunday with blood. The movie is given mostly through Ivan Cooper (James Nesbitt), who organized the civil rights march on 30th January 1972. He is people’s person who believes in non-violence. Even though the troop’s head makes it clear in the press conference for an arrest on whoever participates in the march, this is something expected out of a protest. Any protest expects strong upheaval from the opposition to suppress it. Hence Cooper believes in going on with the march since it is a peaceful one. He expects no riots and wants appeasement throughout the course of it. The young bloods are not so passionate about the movement of softness. They need results now and they sort aggression to be their best choice of protest. It is the age of innocence and also the ignorance. It is the age of learning and hence they get easily bogged down by the fact of causing commotion as one way of showing their emotion against them being dominated by the oppressors.

Cooper aware of it tries to soothe them. In the midst of it is the involvement of Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) but Cooper gets their word for not using violence. In the meanwhile, the paras are in the notion of the breakout. They expect the worst and they want a cessation. A cessation to shut off the whole movement and bring it to complete rest. They start planning on attacking and taking as much key players in. They see this opportunity to cease all the actions and bring some rest. The film is not about whose cause is wrong or right. While they travel through those in the eyes of Cooper, this is the concentration on the whole day which basically marked one more question in the co-existence of humans amongst them. The docudrama mode of shoot is the key in bringing those horrific incidents to the screen. Handling something of extreme disturbing content needs enormous ground work with respect to enacting the events without any biased view even sub-consciously. But thinking about it, whatever may be the real act happened out there, one thing is sure that it is not something to cost human lives to justify it. The film strongly states that in a manner which can only been seen. There could have been a great amount emotion being lost if there was any back ground score in a docudrama like this. It is real and Greengrass does not add any sort of extra elements to make it unrealistic. His loyalty to the incidents is the justification of undertaking the project.

Watching this movie brings out questions of humans not being their self. Many believe that non-violence does not apply to a world surmounted by nuclear warheads. They believe blinking for a second is something any one cannot afford against an enemy. The fear of being existing and being eliminated. The battle in between these two causes confusion and over look the most important details in any agreeable situation. What happened on that horrific Sunday seems more than that. While the initial gear up of the troops could be a normal routine before any major riot causing protest, it is that which triggers them wild. While the loss of innocent people cannot be forgotten in any life time which marked the dark days in human history, it is even more depressing and cruel to have non-convicted souls after it. This cycle of violence does not stop until the people who think violence is the right mode of survival change and decide to drop their guns down; else there will be no one for them to shoot one day.