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’71 Movie Review

’71 is a 2014 British historical thriller film directed by Yann Demange and starring Jack O’Connell. It’s a well made, but overrated film.

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“Posh cunts telling thick cunts to kill poor cunts“

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In 1971, a young and disoriented British soldier is accidentally abandoned by his unit following a riot on the deadly streets of Belfast. The Troubles was a conflict that struck Northern Ireland and lasted for three decades. It’s a crucial, devastating part of the region’s history and it was great that this movie dealt with it, though the overall execution was subpar.

My main issue with this type of storytelling approach is that it eventually forsakes history in favor of genre thrills, leaving you feel empty at the end of the day. I did not learn anything from this movie, which is an issue for what should be a period piece.

As a thriller, ’71 works quite well. The scenes where the protagonist is on the run are quite intense and there is strong filmmaking to be found here. Yes, the shaky cam cinematography was bothersome at times, but overall the movie was very well shot, scored and directed with Demange delivering solid directorial work.

The highlight of the picture is Jack O’Connell. He delivered one of the better performances of the year in such an interesting role. We do not get to know much about Gary Hook as the characterization on this movie is quite subpar, but the actor did a lot to elevate the role with a subtle, layered performance. The movie was at its best when it just focused on him.

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’71 is much more of a survival thriller in a way than a typical historical war film for better and for worse. It’s less of a spectacle, but more intimate in its approach. This is a fictional story, but it’s based on real life history, so it very much felt believable and lived in. I liked the section with the boy the most, but then he was unfortunately killed off in such an unexpectedly brutal scene. This is an unforgiving movie that is stark in its realism and quite intense in its action scenes.