Not heard of Rich Peppiatt? Kneecap, will change that. As his Belfast-set docudrama explodes off the screen, it leaves an unforgettable calling card and a sense of excitement and anticipation. If this is his debut feature film, what’s next?
The winner of the Audience Award at Sundance back in January, it’s the dramatized version of the true story of Northern Ireland hip-hop trio, the Kneecap of the title, who take their name from the act of shooting a person’s knees, a particularly vicious form of “punishment” doled out by paramilitaries during the Troubles. The group come together by chance when Liam Og O Hannaidh refuses to speak English during a police interview and local teacher, J J O Dochartaigh, acts as interpreter. He gives up his job to concentrate on providing beats for Liam and his friend Naoise O Caireallain as they use their music to promote the cause of the Irish language and, at the same time, find themselves confronting local splinter groups and corrupt police officers.
While the focus is on the Irish language – out of the 80,000 native Irish speakers, 6,000 live in Northern Ireland – there’s a much wider message here about indigenous languages. Around nine throughout the world are lost every single year. It’s a silent cultural death. Peppiatt’s determination to make his characters’ voices heard – and his own – makes for a story that’s told through a welter of drug-taking, non-stop bad language and the pounding music itself. Yet, while the setting is around two decades after the Good Friday Agreement, the shadow of the Troubles constantly lurks in the background, particularly in the shape of Arlo (Michael Fassbender), Naoise’s father, who is believed to be dead but casts a long shadow over his son’s life. His presence, even in the most domestic of settings, always comes with menace.
To go with its almost tangibly raw energy, Peppiatt’s given his film – he wrote as well as directing – a sense of being rough around the edges, one that is perfectly in tune with the portrayal of the two friends and their ex-teacher DJ who have little more to look forward to than their next snort of cocaine. They describe themselves as “low life scum”, yet it’s impossible not to wonder how different their lives would have been under better circumstances. They have the guts and the smarts to break out of their rut, even if their choice of route is confrontational and controversial. And, with Irish the dominant language both in the music and the dialogue, the sub-titles barrier comes crashing down. Yes, there’s the conventional lines at the foot of the screen, but it’s also peppered with seemingly hand-written ones, popping up all over the place. It suits the film’s energy and, more importantly, shows that sub-titles can be as integral to a movie as the language they translate.
Kneecap sets a vibrant, ballsy tone, one with a sharp, often dark, humour and a sense of passion born out of near-despair. In a wider context, it makes us hungry for more from a director who isn’t a wholly new name (he co-directed documentary One Rogue Reporter in 2014) but has a voice so distinctive that it’s hard to ignore.
★★★★
Comedy, Drama / Ireland, 2024 / 18 / cinema, Curzon Home Cinema / 23rd August 2024 (UK) / Curzon / Dir: Rich Peppiatt / Liam Og O Hannaidh, Naoise O Caireallain, JJ O Dochartaigh, Michael Fassbender, Josie Walker, Simone Kirby
This is a edited repost of our Sundance London 2024 Film Festival review / original link
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