'71

Yann Demange's ’71 is a gripping wartime thriller set in Belfast, Ireland, before the events of Bloody Sunday. The film shows us twenty-four hours in the life of a young British soldier. Gary (Jack O’Connell) and his fellow recruits think they’re going to serve in peaceful Germany, but instead they're deployed to a Northern Irish province that's about to turn into a war zone between Ulster Unionist Protestants and Irish nationalist Catholics. Gary’s initiation into this dirty civil war is brutal and savage. Separated from his unit during the inciting riot scene, he spends the bulk of the picture making his way back to the barracks while trying to figure out who's an ally and who's an enemy. With his debut film, Demange drops us into the heart of Ireland's Troubles in the same way Steven Spielberg immersed us in the D-day Normandy landings in Saving Private Ryan. 

Although it's a period picture, ‘71’s relevance to contemporary conflicts and wartime realities throughout history, is inescapable. All the tribal battles and Western military intervention in the Middle East today, as well as the American action in Vietnam that was occurring concurrently with the start of the Troubles at the time of this film, share the same tragic elements. Demange wants us to see that wars are fought by young men, fueled by anger, ignorance, tradition, or some combination thereof, and to show us that politicians are responsible for arming one side against the other and, often, simultaneously playing both sides against each other. But at its heart, '71 is an apolitical film, declining to take a stand in the conflict in favor of depicting the whole thing as futile.  We see British officers and undercover IRA members colluding with each other for short-term gain, while the ultimate price is paid by relative innocents like Gary, his fellow soldiers, and the civilian men, women, and children of the occupied area.

The screenplay by playwright Gregory Burke (Black Watch) is a well-researched, fictional story that brings the grim realities of war to life. Demange attacks this script with impressive directorial skill for a first feature. He shoots his day scenes in 16mm and his night scenes in digital video, converting both to a uniform widescreen aspect ratio that, despite relying heavily on close-ups and frantic handheld camerawork, always seems to show exactly the correct image at the correct time. Sound design receives similarly consummate attention. The combination of stark realism and first person perspective with expressionistic overtones, results in an experience that’s both visceral and meditative.