Michael Collins (movie)

Synopsis

The film chronicles the epic struggle for the independence of Ireland in the early xx ^th century .

The mighty England has always been contested by its nearest colony, Ireland . For 700 years, the revolts were put down. But in 1916 , a rebellion broke out in Dublin , which changed the course of history. This so-called Easter Uprising rebellion will fail in the blood, but a young man who participated in it decided that it was the last failure of the Irish Volunteers . The architect of this revolt, a shadow man dedicated to his country, was called Michael Collins .

Technical sheet

• Director : Neil Jordan
• Writer : Neil Jordan
• Composer : Elliot Goldenthal
• Director of Photography : Chris Menges
• Producer : Stephen Woolley
  • Co-producer: Redmond Morris
• Production Companies: Geffen Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures
• Distribution Company: Warner Bros. la France
• Budget: $ 28,000,000
• Language: English
• Duration: 128 minutes

Distribution

• Liam Neeson (VF Robert Guilmard ) : Michael Collins
• Julia Roberts (VF: Céline Monsarrat ) : Kitty Kiernan  (en)
• Aidan Quinn (VF: Gabriel Le Doze ) : Harry Boland  (en)
• Alan Rickman (VF: Claude Giraud ) : Éamon de Valera
• Stephen Rea (VF: Philippe Peythieu ) : Ned Broy  (en)
• Ian Hart (VF: Gilles Laurent ) : Joe O’Reilly
• Brendan Gleeson : Liam Tobin  (en)
• Charles Dance (VF: Hervé Bellon ) : Soames
• Owen O’Neill : Rory O’Connor
• Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (VF: Mathias Kozlowski ) : The “murderer” of Michael Collins
• Stuart Graham : Tom Cullen

Awards

• Venice Film Festival 1996 :
  • Golden Lion
  • Volpi Cup for Best Actor for Liam Neeson

Around the film

• The character of Ned Broy, inspired by the double agent Eamon Broy  (in) (of the name) and “spy castle” David Neligan  (in) (for his work at Castle , Castle, Dublin, which was the seat of British power) is arrested, tortured and killed by the Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP), Dublin Police. However, his models were luckier: the first became a member of the Garda Síochána (Irish police), and later, chairman of the Olympic Committee of Ireland , the second head of the DMP after independence.
• Harry Boland is presented as actively participating in the Battle of Dublin in 1922 . In reality, he was seriously injured when he was arrested at his hotel by soldiers of the Irish National Army . He died in the hospital a few days later.

Critical reception

Even before the film came out on the screens, the subject he presented was the target of many critics of the press, Irish and especially English. An editorial in the Daily Telegraph asked to ban the film, while The Times headlined “The glorified killer,” and the Daily Express spoke of manipulation. The film and its director were even accused of weakening the peace process in Northern Ireland ¹ . In Ireland, although some people criticized the film for reopening old wounds that were best left shut, Michael Collins became the most successful movie on release ¹ , only being beaten by Titanic, released the following year ² . In general, the film received positive reviews, but was slightly criticized for some historical inaccuracies ³ .

References