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Belfast played by Orbital
When fate brings Belfast professor JJ into the orbit of self-described “low-life scum” Naoise and Liam Og, the needle drops on a hip-hop group unlike any other. Rapping in their native Irish, they lead a movement to save their mother tongue. Ireland’s official submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 97th Academy Awards in 2025. Arló Ó Cairealláin: Every word of Irish spoken is a bullet fired for Irish freedom. Referenced in the Film Junk podcast: Episode 961: In a Violent Nature + TIFF 2024 (2024). This middle-aged man brought his teenage son to see the film Kneecap and we both really enjoyed it.
It was funny and engaging, meaning there were no slow parts
By the time the ending rolled around I was left wanting more, at least one more scene after the credits. I’m also a fan of the music and particularly enjoyed the many parts of the movie where the volume in the theater would go up and we could hear them rapping in Irish on the big screen. I’m American so I have to stress that non-Irish people need to brush up on their history, including the Troubles which thankfully culminated in the 90s with the Good Friday Agreement, as well as what’s been happening in Northern Ireland/Northern Ireland in recent years, if you want to appreciate all the jokes and funny references. The complicated history can’t be reduced to a few paragraphs, but I’ll try anyway. The English colonized Ireland and did all the terrible things that colonizing powers do – they stole land and resources, dispossessed the natives and did their best to wipe out Irish culture. Not long ago, the English made it illegal to speak the Irish language, practice Catholicism, or even do Irish dancing.
Catholics could not vote
Attempts at rebellion were brutally suppressed. The English also suppressed attempts at rebellion in Scotland. The English then “planted” hundreds of thousands of loyal Scots and Lowland English into the resource-rich north of Ireland. (The English did their best to try to wipe out the Scottish culture of the Highlands (look up the euphemism “Highland Clearances”) which is very similar to Irish culture due to the spread of Irish culture/language across the Irish Sea during their own expansion going back to the 5th century. In fact, the Irish are responsible for giving Scotland its name, but that’s another story.) Previous invaders to Ireland (Celts, Vikings, Normans) came with their own different cultures, but were all eventually assimilated and became Irish. The plantation worked nonetheless: a distinct, loyalist, pro-Union British culture/nation formed in the north of Ireland and is still present there today.
The British changed the economy itself to suit their own profits
However, across the island of Ireland, times were terrible under British rule. The native Irish were robbed of their land and many were given the opportunity to rent out a small portion of their former land by paying exorbitant sums of money to the British landlords. Many native Irish farmers were forced to specialize in growing potatoes on their poor land because it seemed easy to do. Unfortunately, in the 1800s, a plague struck the potato crops, rendering them inedible. With no food to eat or sell, the Irish starved or emigrated. What about the fish in the waters around the island or in Irish streams or rivers?
Under armed guard, the British had them exported
Although some charitable English subjects sent aid, the English/British government took a laissez-faire approach, explicitly declaring the “famine” to be the fault of the Irish, they were breeding too much because of their Catholic beliefs, and they had to be allowed to die to control the population. In some places where food was sent to the needy, to receive it one had to convert to Protestantism.
https://tick-it-up.com/2024/12/13/the-brutalist-free-to-watch/
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