A documentary detailing the hunger strike by IRA member Bobby Sands in 1981 which led to his death. The film centres around the writings of Sands himself while he was on the hunger strike at the Maze Prison. Around that, we have a number of historians, former IRA members and politicians giving their views, interspersed with archive footage of scenes from the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
The dominant interviewee in the film is the Irish journalist Fintan O'Toole. He espouses, at great length, the idea that Bobby Sands was an artist, who in dying, was making the ultimate sacrifice for his art. O'Toole completely separates Sands actions from the political context of the time. Sands was in prison for a second time for IRA activities. He had joined the IRA in 1971, having grown up in a time of violence, discrimination and oppression of catholic people in the 6 counties. This is the context behind Bobby Sands' actions but it is barely mentioned.
The violence perpetrated by loyalists and the British army, against nationalists is never mentioned in this film. Only violence by the IRA is mentioned. The film even mentions the upsurge in violence in 1972, without mentioning the biggest reason for it, Bloody Sunday which occurred in January of that year.
And therein lies the biggest problem with this film. It is determined to present a very one-sided picture of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, where the IRA were the sole aggressors and everyone else, including the British were victims. At the same time, Bobby Sands is separated from the historical context by the constant positing of him as some kind of artist. The film disrespects Bobby Sands and all the hunger strikers by removing their actions from the political context of the time.
And while some of the animated sequences are well done, the editing is poor. Scenes are juxtaposed together which jar against each other. Thus the film doesn't flow very well and can be hard to watch, while certain scenes are unnecessarily repeated.
Ultimately, the film is revisionist propaganda, serving a particular political line. Decontextualising the hunger strikes from other events in Northern Ireland does not do the story of Bobby Sands justice.
