In the Name of the Father

Jim Sheridan, USA, 1993, 133 minutes

This is the true story of the "Guildford Four" adapted from Jerry Conlon's book Proved Innocent.

October 5th, 1974. Two young Irish men spent the night wandering the streets of London, passed the time of day with a tramp, and then robbed a prostitute's flat. On the same night five people were killed in explosions in two Guildford pubs.

Jerry Conlon, Paul Hill, Carole Richardson and Paddy Armstrong were arrested and in the ensuing investigations, Scotland Yard arrested Conlon's aunt, Annie Maguire, her family, and his Father, Guiseppe Conlon. As they were being tried, two groups of IRA terrorists were arrested, and took responsibility for the Guildford bombing. They denied any acquaintance with the Guildford Four. They supplied detailed information about the bombs, and their fingerprints matched those found at the site. This evidence was never released.

In 1989, Gareth Pierce (Emma Thompson) - the Conlon's legal counsel - found evidence stating that the tramp that Jerry and Paul had talked to had in fact attested to their whereabouts, but this had been deliberately withheld from the defence. This was sufficient to re-open the case and have the convictions overturned.

Fifteen years on, the case has implicated a number of prominent crown officials. For this reason, the case and the verdicts remain the subject of great controversy. The film itself pivots on the fact that Jerry Conlon (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his Father (Pete Postlethwaite) share a cell, but in actual fact they never did. Various minor characters have also been amalgamated for the sake of the film, but as Jerry Conlon said himself it may not be word-for-word, but at least it is being told.

One cannot say that this is a "feel good" film that the whole family can enjoy, but neither is it depressing and dark. Rather surprisingly it is at times lightheaded and frankly funny. This mixed with the outstanding performances of the central characters, and the absolutely electric pacing, makes a worthy film thoroughly enjoyable.

Review by Julia Monelle
Taken from EUFS Programme 1994-95