'71
'71 is a 2014 British thriller film directed by Yann Demange (in his feature directorial debut) and written by Gregory Burke. Set in Northern Ireland, it stars Jack O'Connell, Sean Harris, David Wilmot, Richard Dormer, Barry Keoghan, Paul Anderson and Charlie Murphy, and tells the fictional story of a British soldier who becomes separated from his unit during a riot in Belfast at the height of the Troubles in 1971. Filming began on location in Blackburn, Lancashire, in April 2013 and continued in Sheffield, Leeds and Liverpool. The film was funded by the British Film Institute, Film4, Creative Scotland and Screen Yorkshire, and had its premiere in the competition section of the 64th Berlin International Film Festival, held in February 2014, where it was particularly praised for O'Connell's performance and Demange's direction.
Plot
Gary Hook, a new recruit to the British Army, is sent to Belfast in 1971 during the early years of the Troubles. Under the leadership of the inexperienced Second Lieutenant Armitage, his platoon is deployed without protective gear to a volatile area where Irish Catholics (largely Republicans) and Ulster Protestants (largely Loyalists) live side by side. The unit provides support for the Royal Ulster Constabulary as it inspects homes for firearms, shocking Hook with their rough treatment of Catholic civilians. A crowd gathers to protest against the search; the soldiers, who were ordered to leave riot gear behind, are ordered to keep the crowd back, but the latter turn violent when they witness the RUC beating homeowners in the street.
More details
| author | Gregory Burke |
|---|---|
| contentLocation | Belfast |
| director | Yann Demange |
| editor | Chris Wyatt |
| events | The Troubles |
| genre | action crime drama historical thriller |
| keywords | beat bomb british army build captain commanding officer counter-insurgency divis flats divis tower dog tags early years expect injured irish catholic irish catholics irish republicanism kill l1a1 rifle loyalist military reaction force new life new recruit official ira official irish republican army oira provisional ira provisional irish republican army republican royal ulster constabulary second lieutenant shankill shankill road shock than the trouble ulster loyalism ulster loyalist ulster protestants young boy |
| musicBy | David Holmes |
| nomination | European Film Award for European Discovery of the Year |
| producer | Angus Lamont Robin Gutch |
| productionCompany | Crab Apple Films |
| publisher | StudioCanal UK |
| recordedAt | England |
| theme | independent northern survival urban |