Forgotten Classics: In the Name of the Father(1993)

It’s a testament to the quality of a movie when you feel the need to
research it further after viewing. This is true for ‘in the name of the father’
the oscar winning true story of the guildford four. Released in 1993, the film is based on the autobiography
by Gerry Conlon: The narrator and overall focus of the movie.

The Guildford four were falsely convicted of being IRA terrorists and blowing up a pub in the Guildford area of London in 1974
Their only crime, it would seem, was being in the wrong place at the wrong time and speaking Irish.
Daniel Day-Lewis(Another barn-storming performance, as you would expect) plays Gerry Conlon who’s
confession was beaten out of him by the heavy handed London Police force. They eventually get him
to sign by threatening to kill his father(Pete Postlethwaithe). Ironically his father and six others are charged too for
aiding the four by making the bombs.

The film has particular resonance in to-days society as it makes a statement about terrorism laws.
The police, in those days,were allowed to hold suspected terrorists for up to seven days without charge.
The emotionally charged, scared and fickle public were baying for blood after the attack, which led to the
swift sentence. Inconsequential things like evidence brushed beneath the carpet. It doesn’t bare thinking about
when the new laws give police ninety days to question terrorists in great Britain and even longer in the US.

At one point Gerry and his father meet up with the real bomber in prison. He tells them that he confessed to
the bombings, but the police refused to acknowledge it. The film frustrates you, as you know that whatever
happens, the four are stuck in jail. It’s a tale of faith moreover as Gerry loses his and decides that if they
call him a criminal, he should become one. Joining up with the real Guildford bomber, they start to throw their
weight around the prison. It’s through this journey that Gerry realises that he’s not like these people and re-focuses
his energies on his appeal.

Emma Thompson plays the lawyer who stumbles on the hidden evidence and pursues the Conlon’s release.
Unfortunately, Gerry’s dad dies before his day in court. In arguably the most emotional scene in the film,
the other prisoners honour him by dropping burning paper from their cell windows.

In 1989 the four had there convictions overturned and were subsequently released after fifteen years in prison.

This is definitely one of those films you should see before you die.

Rating 9/10

A poignant reminder of what can happen when you live in a climate of fear.