When an American human rights lawyer is assassinated in Belfast, it remains for the man's girlfriend (Frances McDormand), as well as a two-fisted, obstinate, no nonsense police officer (Brian Cox) helped by his assistant (John Benfield) to find the truth. They soon discover tracks to be contained in an audio tape which the man had with him, exposing political manipulations at the highest levels of government. But such underlying agendas require careful considerations to avoid worse things than killing. Secret Defense...Murder... Torture... Corruption...The most talked about thriller in years! Murder... Torture... Corruption... The Truth Can Never Be Buried. Every government has one. When a government seeks revenge...nobody is safe.
An explosive new thriller inspired by actual events, including intrigue, thrills, suspenseful, twists and turns. An acceptable and passable film but neither notable, nor extraordinary , but decent. It deals with a a human rights activist and a police detective who pull off a complex enquire and uncover brutality and corruption among the British forces in Northern Ireland. Loach's film has the feel of a Costa-Gavras film political thrille and adding a storyline by controversial Marxist Jim Allen. Despite its something flailing conspiracy-theory narrative and its upstaging by television projects, this deserves to be seen simply because it takes the debate on Ireland further than most such docudramas, asking about the nature of the British presence and its effect on the mainland's justice system. The plot based on both the 'Stalker' and 'Colin Wallace' affairs, concerning mainly the murder of an American civil liberties campaigner and the subsequent investigation by Brian Cox as a tough, stubborn police detective to find the truth, which leads to the heart of the military and political establishment. The Northern Irish dialect is sometimes hard to understand as are the machinations on the British police system. Whatever one thinks of the political line on offer, there's plenty of evidence of Loach's undiminished power as a director and equally ample evidence that something is very rotten in the state of Northern Ireland. The two main actors: Frances McDormand, Brian Cox give stunning performances. They're re well acompanied by a mostly Brit support cast, such as: John Benfield, Maurice Roëves, Michelle Fairley, Brad Dourif, Patrick Kavanagh, Mai Zetterling, Bernard Archard, Ian McElhinney, Jim Norton, among others.
The motion picture was professionally directed by Ken Loach, following his particular style. Loach is an expert fimmaker of rich human dramas, committed stories and films of social denunciation. In the 90s Loach directed a series of award-winning movies firmly establishing him as one of the best European filmmakers with ¨Riff-Raff¨, ¨Raining stones¨ and ¨My name is Joe¨ winning several prizes in Cannes, and other international Festivals and , of course , ¨Land and freedom¨ which achieved the Ecumenical Prize and the International critics Prize at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. In the 2000s, Loach went on his special landmark about socialist realism with ¨Bread and Roses¨, ¨The Navigators¨, ¨Sweet sixteen¨, ¨Just a kiss¨, and ¨It's free world¨. And in 2006 directed ¨The Wind That Shakes the Barley¨ and it was winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival The picture appeal to Ken Loach enthusiasts, Frances McDormand fans and political genre buffs. Rating : 6/10. Generally worthwhile.
