Memorable films depicting "The Troubles."
"The Troubles" refers to the most recent installment of violence over three decades (1969–1997) between nationalists (mainly self-identified as Irish and/or Roman Catholic) and unionists (mainly self-identified as British and/or Protestant). The term "the Troubles" was previously used to refer to the Irish revolutionary period; it was adopted to refer to the escalating violence in Northern Ireland after 1969. The conflict was the result of discrimination against the nationalist/Catholic minority by the unionist/Protestant majority and the question of Northern Ireland's status within the United Kingdom.
Which of these films depicting the conflict between the Irish and the Brits do you feel is most memorable?
Discuss the list here
Which of these films depicting the conflict between the Irish and the Brits do you feel is most memorable?
Discuss the list here
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23 titles
- DirectorH.C. PotterStarsMerle OberonBrian AherneKaren MorleyIn 1921, Irish rebels launch an uprising with the aim of creating an Irish republic, independent of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. One of the rebellion's leaders and a beautiful aristocratic Englishwoman meet and - despite the enormous class, cultural, political and social differences between them - fall in love.
- DirectorPaul GreengrassStarsJames NesbittTim Pigott-SmithNicholas FarrellA dramatization of the Irish civil rights protest march and subsequent massacre by British troops on January 30, 1972.
- DirectorJim SheridanStarsDaniel Day-LewisEmily WatsonDaragh DonnellyYoung Danny Flynn is released from prison 14 years after "taking the rap" for the IRA and tries to rebuild his life in his old Belfast neighborhood.
- DirectorPat O'ConnorStarsHelen MirrenJohn LynchDonal McCannA young man fraught with guilt longs to defect from the Irish Republican Army (IRA). He is drawn to the widow of a slain Protestant policeman but must hide his secret that he was involved in her husband's murder and evade the authorities.
- DirectorFrank LaunderStarsStewart GrangerKathleen RyanCecil ParkerIn 1880 Ireland, poor farmers rebel against the abuses of their British landlords.
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsStephen ReaJaye DavidsonForest WhitakerA British soldier kidnapped by the IRA soon befriends one of his captors, who then becomes drawn into the soldier's world.
- DirectorKari SkoglandStarsBen KingsleyJim SturgessKevin ZegersMartin McGartland joins the I.R.A. and feeds information to Britain's Special Branch Agent Fergus.
- DirectorOliver HirschbiegelStarsLiam NeesonJames NesbittAnamaria MarincaThe story of former UVF member Alistair Little. Twenty-five years after Little killed Joe Griffen's brother, the media arrange an auspicious meeting between the two.
- DirectorLisa Barros D'SaGlenn LeyburnStarsCathal MaguirePeter KellyCharlie BerkeleyA chronicle of Terri Hooley's life, a record-store owner instrumental in developing Belfast's punk-rock scene.
- DirectorSteve McQueenStarsMichael FassbenderLiam CunninghamStuart GrahamIrish republican Bobby Sands leads the inmates of a Northern Irish prison in a hunger strike.
- DirectorMargo HarkinStarsEmer McCourtMichael LiebmannCathy CaseyA pregnant Irish girl tries to contact her boyfriend in British prison but her letters are not allowed through to him because she writes in Irish.
- DirectorJim SheridanStarsDaniel Day-LewisPete PostlethwaiteAlison CrosbieAn Irish man's coerced confession to an I.R.A. bombing he did not commit results in the imprisonment of his father as well. Meanwhile, a British lawyer fights to clear their names and free them.
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsLiam NeesonAidan QuinnJulia RobertsNeil Jordan's historical biopic of Irish revolutionary Michael Collins, the man who led a guerrilla war against the UK, helped negotiate the creation of the Irish Free State, and led the National Army during the Irish Civil War.
- DirectorThaddeus O'SullivanStarsIan HartJohn LynchJames FrainA raw depiction of the Belfast, Northern Ireland "troubles" as savage tribal warfare. Set shortly after the 1975 cease fire, this movie focuses on the tribulations of Kenny (James Frain), Protestant leader of a group of Shankill Road Loyalists, and his one-time friend Liam (John Lynch), a Catholic.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsJames MasonRobert NewtonCyril CusackA wounded Irish nationalist leader attempts to evade police following a failed robbery in Belfast.
- DirectorFrank KerrStarsLinda AmendolaMark NewellAidan ParkinsonA true story of an American woman caught up in the struggle for Irish independence.
- DirectorMarc EvansStarsDavid WilliamsonStuart TownsendBrenda FrickerBelfast, in 1970s. Victor Kelly is a young protestant man who hates the Catholics so much that one night he begins to brutally murder them. A reporter soon tries to uncover the murder and obtained prestige for himself, while Victor sinks deeper into madness.
- DirectorYann DemangeStarsJack O'ConnellSam ReidSean HarrisIn 1971, a young and disoriented British soldier is accidentally abandoned by his unit following a riot on the deadly streets of Belfast.
- DirectorJames MarshStarsClive OwenAndrea RiseboroughGillian AndersonSet in 1990s Belfast, an active member of the IRA becomes an informant for MI5 in order to protect her son's welfare.
- DirectorMichael AndersonStarsJames CagneyDon MurrayDana WynterIn 1920s Ireland, I.R.A. members are being led by the war mongering Dr. Sean Lenihan (James Cagney), as they fight oppressive British forces.
- DirectorTerry GeorgeStarsHelen MirrenFionnula FlanaganAidan GillenThe 1981 hunger strike in an Irish prison, in which I.R.A. prisoner Bobby Sands led a protest against their treatment as criminals rather than as prisoners of war. It focuses on the mothers of two of the strikers, and their struggle.
- DirectorMary McGuckianStarsSamantha MortonRoss McDadeRichard HarrisHazel is a Protestant and Malachy a Catholic. Romance between them is threatened by Rohan, who wants Malachy to be recruited and fight for the cause, and by Hazel's brother Jef, who spies on her meetings.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsCillian MurphyPádraic DelaneyLiam CunninghamAgainst the backdrop of the Irish War of Independence, two brothers fight a guerrilla war against British forces.