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Special Features
- Documentary "The South Bank Show" featuring an interview with 'Neil Jordan' and actual footage of Michael Collins
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Neeson was simply born to play this role. An actor of tremendous power, Neeson is here given a role that's multi-dimensional enough for him to show his formidable chops. The Michael Collins character is alternately a boyish, dashing ladykiller and a tactician with a steel will, and just watching Neeson tackle the character's inner and outer demons is worth the price of the movie. He indeed projects the power and charisma of a great leader in his "our refusal" speech. There's more -- Aidan Quinn gives his best performance as friend-turned-enemy Harry Boland; Alan Rickman utilizes his deadpan comic timing and hidden deviance to perfection as Eamon de Valera; Stephen Rea is great as usual as English traitor Ned Broy. The one weak link is of course Julia Roberts, as Harry and Mick's love interest Kitty, with her bad Irish accent and vacant presence. She's paralyzed by the scope of the historical drama and comes off stiff as a result, injecting the character with neither warmth nor power, and none of her signature girlish exuberance. However, this was one case where the filmmaker's sacrifice of a character was to the benefit of the film. In directing the film, Jordan sliced down Kitty's importance and makes her mostly a footnote; the result is that we are now free to interpret Mick and Harry's split as a philosophical and political one, rather than the ol' romantic triangle. And for the better.
The cinematography is terrific, and the script ranks among my favourite of the '90s. Jordan is deeply tapped into the behaviour and concerns of these characters, and he fills every minute with humour, danger, urgency, and personality. The writing translates onto the screen beautifully, giving the audience an insight into not only the sociological scape of the film, but also the psychological. And the pacing and editing never let up -- from the perfectly chosen "in medias res" opening to the brilliant "Bloody Sunday" assassination montage.
A great neglected classic.
And this certainly was a meaty film. It is, in fact, a much, much better film than I had ever imagined from the reviews of the time. I only regret never having seen it on the big screen, because its epic sweep and beautiful cinematography would have been all the more impressive.
Americans, including Irish-Americans like myself, have only the vaguest notions of Irish history. We learn the basics in school, and probably, most educated Americans have an idea of approximately when and how the Irish Republic was established. We may also know that six counties in the North remained under British rule and are still part of the UK (at least, I hope we do--after 30 years of reports on the "troubles").
"Michael Collins" goes some distance toward filling in those informational gaps. I am aware that many critics have challenged writer/director Neil Jordan's interpretation of Irish history (in particular his making Eamon De Valera, the President of the Irish Republic, something of a villain). To that, one can only respond that historical dramas are by definition an interpretation of history. I see that a few of the reviewers below have mentioned that this film inspired them to seek out more information about Irish history. Those of us that do will eventually get a more balanced view, perhaps. It was not Neil Jordan's job to provide us with that perspective. His job as an artist was to tell as engaging a story as he could. On that score, he has succeeded very well indeed.
The film starts on a dramatic tone as Irish rebels battle British troops in the Easter Uprising of 1916. This rebellion fails despite the fact that most of England's resources are tied up in the war raging on the continent. Most of the upstarts-including Michael Collins (Neeson), Harry Boland (Aidan Quinn), and Eamon de Valera (Alan Rickman)-march off to lengthy prison sentences. The perceived ringleaders aren't as lucky: the British line up most of these chaps against the wall and gun them down. Eamon de Valera is one of the few higher ups to survive in large part because he was born in America. With their leadership decimated, Collins and his associates await their release dates so they can continue the fight with the British. It doesn't take long for the rebels to reconstitute a command structure once they get out, but the failed revolt has left its mark on many of the participants. Two schools of strategy emerge concerning future operations for freedom. De Valera and others seek to once again arise and duke it out with the English just as they did in 1916. Collins knows this option will lead to another loss and further prison sentences. He supports taking the war underground by resorting to guerilla warfare in the streets and alleys of Ireland. By striking and then hiding, Collins believes the Irish movement has a much better chance of forcing the British to the bargaining table.
Collins gets his chance to launch a bloody campaign against the British when the Irish leadership heads off to jail again. With the assistance of Harry Boland, he persuades groups of young toughs to raid armories for weapons. He also manages to acquire the secret loyalty of an Irish cop working for the British, Ned Broy (Stephen Rea), to allow him access to the mountains of police files on Irish resistance groups. With an inside view of what the English will do before they even do it, Collins's campaigns of violence become amazingly effective. His boys wipe out a special detachment of Brits sent in to quell unrest. They assassinate police officers and officials. Collins is generally safe from the authorities due to a host of reasons, the least of which include his support from the people and the fact that the cops have no clue what he looks like. How the British didn't know Michael Collins on sight considering he spent time in jail is something I can't explain, but nonetheless his terror missions serve their purpose. The British seek a resolution to the conflict, and Eamon de Valera charges Collins with the task of acting as the Irish emissary. This decision is an adroit political move on de Valera's part, and one that has lasting and violent consequences for the future of Ireland.
I liked everything about "Michael Collins" even though the movie suffers under the onerous burden of two key problems. First, the entire subplot involving Harry Boland, Collins, and an Irish lass named Kitty Kiernan (Julia Roberts) tends to grate. I'm sure the studio insisted on putting a romance theme in the movie in order to sell more tickets and to temper the strident political message, but doing so detracts from the power of the film. Second, historical accuracy occasionally flies out the window in lieu of dramatic license. Witness the sporting event where the British drive an armored car onto the field and promptly gun down the athletes and fire into the crowd. The documentary on the film appended to the DVD discusses this depiction in some depth, and even Jordan admits the event didn't happen exactly the way he portrayed it. But what's good works wonders. Neeson is magnificent as the revolutionary both brutal in his outrages and horrified at the results. Rickman plays de Valera with a sinister silkiness. These two actors are so good at what they do that Rea and Quinn often fade into the background. The locations and set pieces look authentic.
Unfortunately, the extras don't live up to the film. You get a trailer and the aforementioned documentary (which does run for nearly an hour, at least) and that's it. I would have taken the DVD release of this film as an excuse to add a bunch of information about the Irish struggle for independence. C'est la vie, I guess. Whatever the case, the movie is definitely worth the price of the DVD. "Michael Collins" is a film I watch whenever I get the chance, and I will continue to do so well into the future.
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