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Socialist Review Index (1993–1996) | Socialist Review 172 Contents
From Socialist Review, No. 172, February 1994.
Copyright © Socialist Review.
Copied with thanks from the Socialist Review Archive.
Marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for ETOL.
In the name of the Father
Dir: Jim Sheridan
In the Name of the Father tells the story of Gerry Conlon, based on his book Proved Innocent. This film has already been surrounded by controversy. Months before it was released, there were smug proclamations that the truth was pushed aside in the name of drama, that the film is mere emotional propaganda and there are factual inaccuracies.
It is a fact that the Guildford Four spent 15 years in jail. It is a fact that they were innocent. It is a fact that confessions were extracted from them by mental and physical torture. It is a fact that the British police and judiciary knew they were innocent from the beginning. That is what In the Name of the Father is about and that is why it is being attacked. This is an exceptional film. It exposes the entire British justice system as ruthless and corrupt to the core.
It begins in Belfast where Gerry, a petty thief mistaken for a sniper by the British army, is shot at and a riot ensues. This is dealt with concisely, portraying perfectly the normality of such a situation in Belfast in the 1970s. When Gerry meets an old school friend, Paul Hill, on the boat to England they go to stay in a squat in London with Paddy Armstrong, Carole Richardson and various bohemians. Parts of the film are very funny indeed, particularly the spectacle of Conlon and Hill attempting to pass themselves off as vegetarians, and Hill being renamed ‘Sad Moon’ by one of the inhabitants.
The whimsical mood alters immediately when Gerry Conlon is dragged from his bed, a blanket thrown on his head, and brought back to the police station, where he is held for seven days under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and subjected to mental and physical torture. The initial disbelief and growing horror and realisation of what is happening to him are depicted stunningly by Daniel Day Lewis. This is no ‘one bad apple’ depiction of police brutality. It’s not a case of a few cops overreacting.
This is a police force whose job is to get confessions no matter what, regardless of the means, regardless of innocence or guilt. They are sophisticated, well trained and experienced at this work. Conlon eventually cracks when a cop threatens to kill his father, Giuseppe Conlon, and he signs a false confession.
Giuseppe, who comes over to London to see his son, is arrested along with Annie Maguire, Gerry’s aunt, and her entire family as the bomb makers. They are all imprisoned. These events are depicted with black humour and outrage. The sheer incredulity of what is happening to them leads them to alternate angry outbursts and fits of laughter in court.
In prison Gerry’s relationship with Giuseppe changes from one of uneasy embarrassment to a supportive respect without the use of sugary sentiment. He meets IRA man Joseph McAndrew, who told the police that he did the bombing. They knew all along the Balcombe Street gang – not the Guildford Four – planted the bombs.
When Giuseppe dies in prison the previously resigned Gerry begins to fight to clear his name. Gerry Conlon’s ‘crime’ was to be a working class Irish man in Britain in the 1970s. Between 1974 and 1984 over 5,900 Irish people were held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Less than 7 percent were charged with any crime. The Act is still in place.
Not one policeman has ever been disciplined over the Guildford Four case. The film shows not only police brutality, but the solidarity of the prisoners, who at one stage riot to proclaim the Conlons’ innocence.
In the Name of the Father is an unequivocal attack on a brutal and vicious state machine. It is a superbly acted, perfectly paced, sharp and angry film. Run, or at least walk at a very brisk pace, to your nearest cinema.
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