FIFTY DEAD MEN WALKING
Canada/UK, 2008, 117 minutes, Colour.
Jim Sturgess, Ben Kingsley, Kevin Zegers, Natalie Press, Rose Mc Gowan.
Directed by Kari Skogland.
Just as this film was about to be released in 2009, there were several sectarian killings of military personnel and of police in Northern Island, the first for many years. Since the Peace Accord of Good Friday 1997 and the sharing of power between past rival sectarian factions in the Stormont government, the people of Northern Ireland seemed to be on the road to quieter times and prosperities. In fact, arrests were made very quickly and it was hoped that this was an occurrence that was not typical.
Watching Fifty Dead Men Walking, one realises just how deep some of the hostilities are and why they are so powerful and malignant.
This is the story of a young Catholic man who became a member of the IRA but was recruited by British Intelligence to be a mole and provide them with information about planned IRA raids and bombings. It has been inspired by the book by the man himself, Martin Mc Gartland, who was hurried into a witness protection program but eventually was tracked down in Canada and shot at point blank range. However, he did not die and is still on the run.
This is quite a grim film, not your action adventure like The Devil's Own, with Brad Pitt. We are provided with information about what happened in Northern Ireland in the period of the 1970s to the 1990s. After bombings, the British military move in (with that air of superiority and bullying contempt that we are reminded of with American troops in Iraq after the invasion). There is bitterness between Catholics and Protestants, the Catholics tending to be poor and wanting union with Ireland, the Protestants tending to be more prosperous and determined to stay connected with the mainland.
Martin Mc Gartland is a bit of spiv, selling black market lingerie and clothes from door to door. He dates Lara. She becomes pregnant,which mellows him a little. He doesn't betray IRA gunmen during a chase or during interrogation. His school friend encourages him to become part of the IRA and he rises quickly through the ranks.
However, British Intelligence, through an agent handler, Fergus, keep an eye on him and decide that he is very suitable for recruiting as a mole. They are right and for some years he is able to keep friends on both sides while being invited to important meetings with important information about raids and bombings and passing this material on to Fergus. He observes torture of traitors but cannot bring himself to kill a victim.
Eventually, of course, he is unmasked.
Jim Sturgess made a mark in Across the Universe and 21 but this is his film to convince us how well he can act. He fits the part of Martin Mc Gartland perfectly and communicates what it could have been like for the real Martin. Kevin Zegers is Sean. And Fergus is played with some quiet intensity by Ben Kingsley.
Not a definitive portrait of the period and its issues but an interesting, at times an alarming immersion in the Troubles.
The week that the film opened in cinemas, British television screened Five Minutes of Heaven, a powerful story of a teenage assassin in the Troubles encountering the brother of the young man he killed in front of him, Liam Neeson playing the former and James Nesbitt the latter – a psychological and moral confrontation of bitterness and regret that questions violence solutions.
1.The history of the Northern Ireland Troubles? The situation in the 80s and 90s? The explanation of this history given at the beginning of the film? Subsequent to the action of the film, the peace discussions, the Good Friday Agreement, 1997?
2.The film as a memoir, the Canadian writer, inspired by Martin Mc Gartland’s book, not based on it, not approved by him as such?
3.Audience knowledge of Northern Ireland, the Troubles, the clashes, sectarian issues? The British military presence? The rule from Westminster? Audience interest, sympathies? From inside the situations? Or observing? Judgments about the characters, moral issues, violence?
4.The sectarian history and the clash, the impoverished Catholics, the contrast with the unionists, being part of Great Britain? The militaries for each side of the sectarian clash? The British presence, military, harsh, the bigotry of the soldiers? The significance of having moles?
5.The structure of the film: Martin and his being shot, the flashback, the audience knowing it was leading up to his being shot, the end, the final information about his still being on the run decades later?
6.The portrait of Martin as a young Catholic, his ideology – or not? Family, support of his mother, his brother? Religion and its presence and absence? His values? Selling lingerie, his patter, knocking on people’s doors? His overseer and his being a mole for the British? The information about Martin, his being watched by the British? His friendship with Sean from schooldays, his other friends? Sean persuading him to join the IRA? Meeting Lara, selling clothes to her mother? Her initial reaction, antagonistic? The dates, the sexual encounter on the roof of the Europa Hotel? Her pregnancy, her reaction, his surprise and joy? An easygoing young man? His being chased by the military, not revealing the IRA? His being recruited after the chase? The interrogations, the discussions with Fergus? The IRA and his becoming part, not betraying them? Being given jobs, his rise, his finally being a volunteer, his declaration of the oath? Meeting Fergus, Fergus recruiting him? His agreement to live a double life? The meetings with Grace? Delivering messages? Fergus and the photo? His going to hospital, the birth of his son? Fergus coming to the hospital, Sean coming? The visit by Grace and her associates to the house, seeing all his practical goods, the expenses? His motivation and wanting to stop deaths, going to Scotland, the Libyan arms deal? His observing the torture, its cruelty, his being asked to shoot the victim? His being unable to? The build-up to the bomb in the pub, going for the rehearsal, the information, the raid and his being betrayed? His anger at Fergus? His being shot, going to the hospital, Grace coming into the hospital but being warded off? Transferred to the safe house of Fergus’s home? His going to watch Lara and the child, Lara being pregnant again, his being willing to sacrifice being with her so that she would be safe?
7.The IRA, its cause, the military action, organisation, the ranks, the jobs, deaths? The reaction to the army? The shootings, traitors and torture, shooting the young man’s knees? The volunteers and their oaths? The various members of the hierarchy? Michael and his taking a shine to Martin, supporting him, like another son?
8.The British, the troops and their orders, behaviour, with the Irish holding them at gunpoint, the orders from London? The argument that London saw the bigger picture?
9.Fergus, his personality, his recruiting methods, managing, surveillance, the various meetings with Martin, the information, motivation, thwarting IRA action? His liking Martin? His trying to save him, the final deals to save Martin? The discovery of the IRA mole in the surveillance hierarchy?
10.The ordinary Irish people at the time, in the streets, shops, the children, families, knowing or not knowing what was happening with the IRA? Martin’s mother? Lara’s mother?
11.The particularly Irish story – but universal application, divided communities? Issues of violence or not? The motivation of the double agents, the moles, the difficulties of their lives? The consequences – even having to be hidden for the rest of their lives?
