Keswick Film Club - Kneecap

Synopsis

Prepare yourself for "An energising blast of fresh energy, this Irish comedy-drama fills the screen with characters who feel almost overpoweringly full of life. Rich Peppiatt writes and directs with an engaging urgency, propelling the audience through the narrative alongside these scrappy people, while at the same time making nuanced comments about important themes, personal issues and thorny political situations. This makes it an essential film for anyone worried about the future" - Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall.

Based very loosely around the real Irish group Kneecap (who play themselves here), this follows three guys who start rapping in Irish Gaelic after the Good Friday agreement, and manage to get popular, despite (or maybe because) they make just about everyone angry, from the Government, the IRA and an anti-drug coalition the Radical Republicans Against Drugs (RRAD)

Why rap in Gaelic? "Because every word spoken in Irish is a bullet for Irish Freedom", says IRAman Arlo (played here by Michael Fassbender) to his son Naoise and his friend Liam, who go on to set up Kneecap with their music teacher JJ (who has to wear a balaclava to disguise himself because of his job). This gets them caught up in the movement to get Irish to be the official language in Northern Ireland, which angers the establishment but pleases the remnants of the IRA. They also sing about drugs, annoying the RRAD… expect 'The Blues Brothers', but with real guns. Expect 'The Commitments' on adrenalin...expect to laugh!