It is very likely that you have already heard of the film Kneecap, as it premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival where it won an Audience Award. It subsequently screened at the SXSW Film & Television Festival in March where it was a nominee for the Audience Award in the Festival Favorites category.
Kneecap is an Irish rap group composed of three members: Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, Naoise Ó Cairealláin, and JJ Ó Dochartaigh and the film is their origin story set in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The story is inspired by true events, as the members of the group set out to continue the use of their Irish language – a fight against those forces who were crushing the use of the native Irish language. The members of the Irish rap group play themselves in the script co- written with director Rich Peppiatt (who is British). Said script is a reimagining of events, with some fictionalized. What is a fact is that the ancient native language was banned by the British. It was only recognized as an official language in the U.K. in 2022.
Performing rap in the Irish language was met with resistance, considering their sound defiant, including the police, paramilitaries and politicians. The biopic includes all the sex, drugs and hip hop of the day leading to fans who followed them for the defense of the culture. It was not all young people, as it is noted that women of various ages organized as well when there were issues with radio airplay.
Michael Fassbender plays Naoise’s father Arlo who is presumed deceased. He was a high-ranking Irish Republican Army (IRA) militant who disappeared when his son was still a child. Arlo always thought that speaking Irish was significant and shared that with the boys before his disappearance. The film shows that he was living off the grid, away from law enforcement but kept tabs on what was going on with his family and friends, including the possibility for the resurgence of spoken Irish. The youth their age was inspired to learn the language and make it part of the culture instead of leaving it as a thing of the past. Passing it on ensured that it was not demolished and erased.
One character in the film that I found to be significant is a policewoman, Detective Ellis (Josie Walker) who made it her mission to pursue what the boys did, as she was determined to prove Arlo was alive. There is one scene in the police station where she goes way beyond what she should have done and that I found very disturbing. The rage was clearly on screen, and this is not the only scene of violence against them.
Cinema has been used to promote and preserve the language over the years. Kneecap is now a part of the filmic archive of stories in the Irish language and after 2022, I have no doubt we will see more soon.
Film fans will not have to be well versed in Irish history to understand what the docudrama has to say and enjoy it overall.
Crew: Camera: Ryan Kernaghan. Editors: Chris Gill, Julian Ulrichs. Music: Michael ‘Mikey’ J Asante.
Running time: 105 minutes and the film is in US theaters as of August 2, 2024.
Source: Sony Pictures Classics
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