In the Name of the Father (1993, USA)

Director

Jim Sheridan

Cast

Daniel Day Lewis (Gerry Conlon), Emma Thomson (Gareth Pierce), Pete Postlethwaite (Giuseppe Conlon), Corin Redgrave (Robert Dixon)

Screenplay

Jim Sheridan and Terry George, based on Proved Innocent by Gerry Conlon

Format

Live action, colour

Language

English

Running time

127 minutes

Classification

15

Distributor

Universal

Genre

Drama

Setting

Belfast and British prison 1974, late 1980s

Main characters

Gerry Conlon, Giuseppe Conlon, Gareth Pierce, Robert Dixon, Paul Hill

Narrative focus

Gerry Conlon's experience of a British justice system as an accused IRA terrorist

Synopsis

Gerry Conlon is a young man living in Belfast in the early 1970s. Getting into trouble with the IRA, he heads for a new life in London. Soon after arriving, the IRA blow up a pub in Guildford and Gerry, his friend Paul Hill, and several others are accused of the bombing, found guilty and imprisoned. The film charts Gerry's interrogation and subsequent efforts to clear his name with the help of lawyer, Gareth Pearce. The film also explores the relationship in prison between Gerry and his father Giuseppe. Pearce succeeds in proving Conlon's innocence and bringing into question the integrity of the police and the British system of justice.

Background

The film is based on a real event. Gerry Conlon, Paul Hill and two others (the 'Guildford Four') were incarcerated for many years for the bombing but eventually their conviction was shown to be unjustified. The film was made after their release. The Guildford bombing is the starting point for the story and in the context of the wider issue of the politics of Northern Ireland the film references the Prevention of Terrorism Act and its relationship with issues of civil liberties. When In the Name of the Father was made, the British media suggested the film took an anti-English attitude and distorted the acknowledged facts of the event the script was based on.

The film's director, Jim Sheridan, began his career working successfully in theatre as a writer and director. He ran the Irish Arts Centre in the early 1980s in New York. He is one of Northern Ireland's most high profile directors, and with his later film The Boxer (1997) has contributed to the cinema discourse on the conflict between Irish Nationalists and Unionists. In 2002, he released a new film, In America, about an Irish couple relocating to New York in the 1980s. Daniel Day Lewis appeared in Jim Sheridan's other real life based drama, My Left Foot (1989), and The Boxer (1997).

Commentary

Although the film is a fact-based drama certain genre conventions and devices are used to amplify the drama and engage the audience. Music is used powerfully in the film. When Conlon wins the music rises and he makes a heroic and romanticised exit from the court. The opening sequence is choreographed like a big action sequence - quick cuts, loud music, handheld, reality approach. The police are dramatised as the 'villains', as demonstrated in the interrogation scene. In the courtroom, the close ups of the inspector leading the investigation lend him a menacing quality.

Also recommended

The Boxer (UK, 1997, Jim Sheridan) is about a man who is imprisoned for fourteen years, for being involved in an IRA bombing. Upon release, he commits himself to establishing a non-sectarian boxing club.

Teaching suggestions (Key Stage 4, age 14-16)

Citizenship focus

• Significance of the media in effecting public opinion
• Operation of the criminal and civil justice systems
• Importance of a free press.

Subject link

History: Northern Ireland in the second half of the 20th century.

Sound and image

• Watch the sequence when Conlon wins the case and leaves the courtroom with the sound down. Discuss the effect of the scene.
• Then watch the sequence again with the sound up.
• What is the effect of the scene this time?
• What is the difference?
• What kind of music is used?
• What do you notice about the volume levels?

Spot the shots

Watch the opening sequence.

• How fast is the editing and what is the filmmakers' choice of camera style?
• What kind of film does this suggest you are about to see?

Generic translation

Ask students to write the front-page newspaper report on the day of Gerry Conlon's release. They should comment on the evidence which came to light and the importance of the case for future legislation and criminal court proceedings.

Discussion

• What happens in the film that is factually correct?
• What happens in the film that is 'based on' real life events?
• What happens in the film that is factually incorrect?
• How can the media influence public opinion about the criminal justice system?
• How important is it that historical reconstructions are factually correct?
• What effect did the film have on
  • your attitude to the police?
  • your attitude to the legal system?
  • your attitude to the IRA and Northern Ireland?

Practical production work

• Voxpops: Get students to interview staff and fellow students on camera about films that have changed their opinions and attitudes to something.

• Compare the effect of different camera styles on the 'message' of a scene. Divide the students into two groups. Ask one group to remaking the opening sequence of the film, using a static camera on a tripod and ask the other group to remake the courtroom scenes using a hand-held camera. Watch each sequence followed by the actual film sequence and compare the 'reality' effect of each scene.