Omagh (2005)

Brilliant and touching

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

I seriously felt sick in my stomach watching this but it honestly really happened! In the scene where the bomb exploded in the town, I felt like I was there and I was screaming. It really breaks your heart into pieces looking at the victims who were killed or injured in the blast. I say it's still very traumatizing for the families, friends and the survivors like it's such an evil act to do that. Sure the IRA don't give a toss whether they killed anyone or not, they think they are the gods of this universe! I was even more p*ssed off with the state for giving such little information to the families. Sure, as per usual, politician scumbags with our past Taioseach Bertie Ahern,Gerry Adams, the Gardai and other bodies involved in the case were and still are disgraceful. They even didn't want to catch the real perpetrators and still today, there hasn't been any improvement ever since. Seriously it's just a joke the way Ireland lets criminals rum around streets by letting them off easy for "good behaviour". Ireland is too nice for its criminals!Excellent movie!

I imagine that for almost everyone in Northern Ireland, the title of this film acts as a plot summary as well because the bombing in 1998 of Northern Irish town Omagh is etched in the mind. The afternoon detonation in a bust market street claimed many, many civilian lives and left many more injured. This film covers the bombing and follows the aftermath through the experiences of Michael Gallagher, who lost his son and headed up the efforts of a civilian group looking for results and enquiries.By the very nature of the story the film starts very strong. The scenes where the crowds are moved away from the wrong area, essentially into the blast area sickeningly tense because we know what is coming. Indeed the immediate aftermath and the hunt for news is almost very moving and it reminded me instantly of how I felt when I heard the news of the attack. With this peak so early, the film has to work to keep things from feeling like they dip. Sadly, it doesn't manage it and the rest of the film doesn't engage as it should, nor does it inform or move. It is a shame but it is a bit messy in the telling – reflecting the sort of ongoing, lack of resolution that many murders have down the decades in Northern Ireland. The conclusion rests heavily on the police enquiry and, as such, it makes the film feel like it is putting the majority of the blame on the police rather than the terrorists who planted the bomb. This is not the case, but it is easy to see it that way with the second half of the film and the way it chooses to conclude as a story. This hurts it – not in terms of balance (although that is an issue) but just because it is part of the film not really having a handle on what it is doing once the aftermath moves from the immediate to the longer term.The cast are hard to fault though and certainly McSorley does great work in the lead. He captures the unassuming Ulsterman character well – someone recognisable as being one of the sort of people we have in this country (we have countless others but his character reminded me of several relatives). He emotes really well and it is just a shame the film did not use his character better than it did. The rest of the cast are secondary to him but mostly are solid and convincing. The direction is good but it is the writing where it falls down to the point where it can't recover. It doesn't really flow and the structure is part of the problem.Overall this is a film with an impacting opening 40 minutes, that easily moves and angers in the way the events themselves did. However as a film it doesn't seem to have a tight focus on where to go from there and as a result the story is messy and unclear, leaving the viewer with a memory of emotion amid the collection of scenes that follow. Can't fault the intent but the delivery is lacking.

OMAGH tells the story of a terrorist bombing in a northern Ireland hamlet that killed 29 people in the mid 90s. It follows a father and several others who try over the next several years to get justice for their murdered kin. The movie ends on an ambivalent note, as it was based on a true story. No one is ever held responsible for the bombing, although several terrorists that may have been involved are eventually incarcerated for other misdeeds. The movie is filmed and told in documentary fashion, using a jittery, swooping hand-held camera, and it works most of the time. The film is actually very subdued, very low key, and in the end this lack of heightened histrionics tends to work against it. We are happy when it is finally over, especially as we are led to understand halfway through that the bombers will never be caught or prosecuted. Brenda Fricker has a cameo as an ombudsman. Otherwise, the rather large cast, presumably including some real villagers, is unknown to American audiences.

Having just seen this film, I believe that some superlatives are warranted! The performances in this film are hauntingly powerful, most notably Gerald Mcsorley, whose immense portrayal adds credibility and resonance to the tragic story. The direction is magnificent...mostly shot in the style of a documentary, while refraining from actually being a mockumentary. This also adds weight. The fact that this creative, interesting and powerful film only finds a home on TV, rather than at the cinemas...while films like Sex lives and the Potato Men gets a general release, says a lot about the British Film industry!