Bloody Sunday 40 Years On

“TRYING to make sense of it I kept looking at the blood and the shoes on the streets as we walked. I asked where the people had gone. The only death I had experienced was on the television. My mother told me that God had lifted the people to Heaven. I wondered why people didn’t get into Heaven with their shoes on”

            Frankie McMenamin was eight years old on January 30, 1972, Bloody Sunday.

“And in the dirt lay justice like an acorn in the winter, ‘til its oak would sprout in Derry where the thirteen men lay dead” wrote Seamus Heaney in his 1972 poem The Road To Derry.

“There would have been no deaths in Londonderry if those who organised the march had not thereby created a highly dangerous situation in which a clash between demonstrators and the security forces was almost inevitable” stated the Widgery Report in April 1972.

As we approach the 40 year anniversary of Bloody Sunday, many argue Heaney’s acorn of justice finally sprouted in the form of the Saville Inquiry which began in 1998 and concluded last year. “Unjustified and unjustifiable” said Prime Minister David Cameron on the actions of the British soldiers involved. Mark Durkan praised the findings on the day they were published, “absolutely and totally exonerated” he said of the victims.

 However, there are still those who believe the Saville Inquiry did not go far enough. “Now that the British Government have cleared the names of those killed and injured, some feel the legal system should now act to deliver swift deliberation on the cases involved, “ said Pat Ramsey MLA.

January 29 will mark the 40 year anniversary Bloody Sunday march. It was organised by Kate Nash with help from her sister Linda and friends. This year it is called the March For Justice.

“I want the soldier or soldiers responsible for the death of my brother Willie and the wounding of my father Alex to be prosecuted for their crimes” said Miss Nash on the aim of the march. William Nash was 19 years old and was fatally shot at a rubble and wire barricade on Rossville Street, his father Alex was wounded as he ran to him.

However, many Unionists feel that the Saville Report should be enough to put an end to the debate on Bloody Sunday. The inquiry lasted 12 years and cost £200 million.

“There are thousands of people throughout the UK who have been denied justice and may never know who was responsible for the death of their loved ones. They have had no costly inquiries nor have they received the attention of the international press. There have been more than 30 years of bloody days in Northern Ireland’s history. Those affected have been left to deal with their grief in their own private way without the largesse of the state or the lionising of the media,” said Democratic Unionist MP Gregory Campbell.

Last year’s Bloody Sunday memorial march was in the wake of the Saville Report. Families were celebrating the findings. This year it is called the March For Justice and the Nash sisters feel that justice is the one thing still to be granted. The memorial in Rossville Street reads, “Their epitaph is in the continuing struggle for democracy.” Forty years on and much has changed in Northern Ireland, but the struggle between the two communities continues.

Review - The Artist

THE Artist is a simple love story, but more than that it is a loving nod to the often forgotten stars of early Hollywood cinema.

One challenge for director Michel Hazanavicius must have been to make this film feel authentic to today’s audience. It is a silent movie about the making of silent movies. The Artist is set largely between 1927 and 1929; Hollywood was a different place. Actors lived and died at the hands of studio executives and a strange new phenomenon of “talkies” was arriving.

Unthinkable.

The film illustrates how quickly popular stars of the silent era were forgotten as Hollywood made way for younger talent. George Valentin goes from red carpet adoration to sitting in the back of his own premieres with a handful of audience members and his dog.

Valentin represents stars like Douglas Fairbanks and Buster Keaton, who went from worldwide adoration to being labelled yesterday’s news and broke as soon as the talkies arrived. It is difficult to imagine today a new development that would change cinema forever and send stars like Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise into a relative poverty.

Unthinkable.

Of course The Artist is not simply a dramatised documentary about 1920s cinema. Intertwined throughout is a delicate love story between fading silent star George Valentin played by Jean Dujardin and up-and-coming, singing, dancing, talking Peppy Miller, played by Berenice Bejo.

When many people think of silent cinema, they think of exaggerated acting and slapstick, but the romance element of this film is subtle by today’s standards. There is no passionate love scene, no grand declaration of love, but the sentiment is clear. The visual acting ability required of silent movies is high and in my view this is where Bejo and Dujardin shine. Dujardin is particularly impressive as we see the fall from grace of Valentin as he also falls in love with Miller.

The Artist is also an understated tribute to the silent stars. At one point Miller is overwhelmed and demands, “I want to be alone!” while Valentin sits at the dining table with his unhappy wife and makes her laugh with a series of poses involving his breakfast. It was a little something for the Garbo and Chaplin fans.

However this film is not just for the silent era purists; I booked my ticket early and it is lucky I did; the two previous showings in Queen’s Film Theatre sold out and I sat in a packed room at 9:15pm on a Saturday. The audience applauded at the end and we left and realised it is not 1929 anymore.