29/41

Synopsis

When fate brings Belfast teacher JJ into the hands of self-confident 'low life scum' Naoise and Liam Og, the needle drops in hip hop act like no other. Rapping in their native Irish, they lead a movement to save their native language. The first Irish language film to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Caitlin: A country without a language is only half a nation.

: Episode 961: Into the Wild + TIFF 2024 (2024)

Belfast is performed by Orbital. Last night I went to the Cineworld Secret Screening of what turned out to be "Kneecap". I had seen the trailer so I knew about the film, although I didn't know that Kneecap was a real band and that the actors in it were playing themselves. As one of the few Irish speakers in Belfast, JJ O'Dochataig is called to a police meeting as an interpreter, where he meets Liam Og O'Hanaidh, who pretends to speak Irish to annoy Detective Ellis (Josiah Walker).

"Road End" is the film to show to a group that doesn't expect it

JJ sees a book of hip-hop lyrics written in Irish by Liam and his friend Naoise O'Cairaellain. A music teacher and in a relationship with an Irish language advocate, JJ sees the potential in using music to raise awareness. When the trio begin performing, they quickly gain a following, but the content of the lyrics makes them enemies with both the police and a dissident republican organization opposed to the promotion of drug use in the city. About a quarter of the audience in my screening left within the first 25 minutes, put off by the overt drug use, swearing, and sex scenes, and — let’s face it — some people’s worst problem: subtitles.

So much so that I can’t believe they’re real guys and not full-time actors

They missed out on a movie I really enjoyed (mostly for all the reasons I just mentioned), but also because, despite the idea that people in movies play themselves into disaster (3:17 PM to Paris), the boys here actually do really Well. The rest of the cast, however, is full of professional actors, none more so than Michael Fassbender, who plays Nausicaa’s father. It’s a genuinely funny movie that tackles the subject matter with a light touch and tells a full story. .

Easily the best musical biopic I’ve seen this year