Bobby sands 66 days film

That concept is forcefully reiterated in brendan j. Its neither an apologetic nor a rosetinted documentary. Filmmaker brendan j byrne explores the story of bobby sandss 66day hunger strike in the spring of 1981. An authoritative documentary about the ira hunger striker gets to the heart of its subject. Telling the story of sands life for the first time, this unique film sets out how he became the architect of his own destiny and describes how his own personal story became overshadowed by his death, as he ascended into the ranks of international icon status. Following its release on friday, bobby sands 66 days has achieved the highest ever opening weekend at the irish box office for a home made documentary and now holds the second highest opening weekend of all time for documentaries, with fahrenheit 911 in the top spot for documentaries overall and last years amy winehouse documentary amy just behind in. Bobby sands 66 days one of northern irelands biggest. Bobby sands 66 days breaks boxoffice records film in dublin. By the early 1980s, after two decades of violence and unrest, the situation in northern ireland took a sudden and profound turn inside the infamous maze prison. Over 66 days, bobby sands hunger strike caused a ripple effect across. F or those whose only awareness of bobby sands comes from hunger, bobby sands. A contentious subject the role of bobby sands, and of hunger strikes in general, in the irish republican movement is approached with. Byrne, could be accused of mythologising its subject.

Fintan otoole, richard english, norman tebbit, tim pat coogan, dessie waterworth, gerry adams. In one he describes the 1981 hunger strike as drama at the absolute rawest edge it. A documentary look at ira man bobby sandss 66day hunger strike that resulted in his death in 1981, as well as his earlier life, the troubled northern ireland he lived in. Bobby sands 66 days is a documentary about irish republican bobby sands terminal hunger strike in 1981. Macnamara a film by brendan j byrne director brendan j byrnes account of the 66 day hunger strike of bobby sands achieves the near perfect balancing act of being both cinematic whilst keeping in line with its primary role as a documentary. Content media in 1981, bobby sands is a 27yearold member of the ira, doing a 14year sentence for weapons possession in northern irelands maze prison, when he leads fellow prisoners on a hunger strike demanding that they be treated as political prisoners. As subtle and eventempered as a documentary about a selfstarving political martyr can possibly be, brendan j. Bobby sands 66 days takes a sympathetic look at this man, who became a symbol at 27. There is footage of real violence, including blood being spilled on the streets, activists being beaten, frequent explosions, and faces of. Byrnes film is a salutary reminder of those grim and. Seeking the right to be treated as political prisoners rather than common criminals, irish republicans led by bobby sands began a prison hunger strike that would draw international attention to the conflict. Byrnes critically acclaimed documentary sparked controversy on.

In the spring of 1981 irish republican bobby sands 66day hunger strike brought the attention of the world to his cause. Bobby sands starved for 66 days in an irish prison in an attempt to gain rights for his fellow political prisoners. There isnt, then, much to say about sands life, apart from those nine years in which he was imprisoned, awaiting imprisonment, or engaged in activity that would lead to his imprisonment. And while some of the animated sequences are well done, the editing is poor. The film disrespects bobby sands and all the hunger strikers by removing their actions from the political context of the time. Telling the factual story of sands life for the first time, this unique film sets out how he became the architect of his own destiny and describes how his own personal story became overshadowed by his death, as he ascended into the ranks of international icon status. Using extracts from bobby sandss diary, testimony and footage from the archives, the. Content media in 1981, bobby sands is a 27yearold member of the ira, doing a 14year sentence for weapons possession in northern irelands maze prison, when he leads fellow prisoners on a hunger strike demanding that they be treated as. And while that reaction would be understandable, its also. Sands remains an opaque figure, but brendan j byrnes film makes a persuasive case that his 1981 hunger strike lead directly to the good. Over 66 days, bobby sands hunger strike caused a ripple effect across the globe. Its a testament to the quality of filmmaking that bobby sands.

Telling the factual story of sands life for the first time, this unique film. In 2016, he voiced bobby sands in reenactments in the documentary film bobby sands. The film include excerpts from his hunger strike diary, read by actor martin mccann, offering a unique insight into the man and his thoughts as he embarked on his final journey. Sands married geraldine noade while in prison on robbery charges on 3 march 1973. Byrnes film is a sober, evenhanded recapitulation of sandss imprisonment and. The nationalist conflict is unresolved to this day, making bobby sands 66 days a subversive film.

Its a fairly straightforward doc, counting down the last 66 days of sandss life via expert testimony from historians and colleagues, with lots of eyeopening archive footage. The film mixes reenactment, animation, interviews and archive footage to relate the story of bobby sands and the 1981 irish hunger strike, as well as covering the events leading up to the hunger strike and. Sands 66 day hunger strike protest against the removal of special category status for political prisoners in the maze and his subsequent death in 1981 proved to be a catalyst during the troubles and arguably was one. Sands undoubted act of personal bravery brought ireland to a standstill as the outside world looked on to see an intense battle unfold between an unseen prisoner and the might of the british government. With gerry adams, michael alison, humphrey atkins, aram bakshian. But 66 days is the first fulllength documentary about sands. Drawing on an irish republican tradition of martyrdom, sands emotive, nonviolent protest to be classified as a political prisoner became a defining. The real bobby sands, as revealed in his own words, dominates this documentary that follows the sixtysix days of the hunger strike that made the irish political martyrs 1981 death worldwide news and became the turning point in irelands relationship with britain. Biography, documentary, history by the early 1980s, after two decades of violence and unrest, the situation in northern ireland took a sudden and profound turn inside the infamous maze prison. Tommy mckearney ex hunger striker 53 days 1980 gave connolly media group an interview to discuss brendan j byrnes new film bobby sands 66 days and to reflect on his time on hunger strike. Drawing on an irish republican tradition of martyrdom, sands emotive, nonviolent protest to be classified as a political prisoner became a defining moment in 20th century irish. In the spring of 1981 irish republican bobby sands 66 day hunger strike brought the attention of the world to his cause. The bobby sands film 66 days has become one of the most successful northern ireland films of all time.