Delayed Reaction: Bloody Sunday

Premise: A boots-on-the-ground recreation of the events of Bloody Sunday in Ireland.

 

While I can certainly see some of the elements of his filmmaking that he brought to the Bourne franchise, Bloody Sunday is definitely the ramp up to Paul Greengrass making United 93. It has the same eye-level aesthetic. The actors are mostly unknown. It's hectic and isn't concerned with tidy editing. It's a shame he hasn't figured out how to use this for happy stories. Like, where's "Hands '86", the story of Hands Across America? (which did solve hunger or AIDS or whatever, by the way) Instead, he's always making these about spree killings in Norway, the cruelest twist of the knife on 9/11, or the deadliest event of the Troubles. Frankly, it's shocking that he isn't even a producer on a Columbine movie. Is Captain Phillips really his most optimistic movie?

 

While it isn't Greengrass' first movie, Bloody Sunday is the one he built his reputation on, and it's easy to see why. It's also easy to see how he's grown as a filmmaker. I appreciate how cheaply and simply the film is made. None of the actors look familiar to me, so that worked in its favor. It's actually pretty impressive that he didn't stumble onto a James McAvoy, even by accident, in this. I appreciate the sense of confusion throughout. When you factor in the Irish accents, without subtitles and a Wikipedia article, I would've been totally lost. Some of the most violent scenes are almost mundane. Like, the initial shots fired are easy to miss entirely.

 

The editing of the movie is interesting. It's full of repeated quick fades, which feels a lot more measured. He could've done this exactly the same but with fast cuts. It would've been too chaotic though. I like this choice. I'd love to know how this was shot and edited. How intentionally were all the scenes and cuts? Were all of these scenes shot specifically, or was there a ton of coverage that they pieced together? I suspect there could've easily been a 4-hour cut of this. Much of the movie does a good job showing the confusion all-around. I think it could've done a better job of tracking the army's perspective later on. There's a point where it just stops trying to get in their heads that's a little frustrating. Perhaps that's intentional, since it isn't really clear why the discharged so many rounds. Bloody Sunday isn't the gut punch that the first hour of 22 July and the entirety of United 93 is, but it's still an impressive movie.

 

Verdict: Strongly Recommend