In The Name Of The Father

Jim Sheridan's In The Name Of The Father which released in 1994 is an amazing film. The screenplay was written by Jim Sheridan along with Terry George based on the autobiography Proved Innocent: The Story of Gerry Conlon of the Guildford Four by Gerry Conlon. It starred Daniel Day-Lewis, Pete Postlethwaite and Emma Thompson in lead roles.

This film is based on the true story of four people who were falsely convicted for the IRA's Guildford pub bombings. Those four persons were commonly called as Guildford Four.

The film is shown through the life of Gerry Conlon, one of the Guildford Four. At the beginning of the movie, we see him as a rebellious and mischievous young man in Belfast. His family is worried about him. They in turn send him to London so that he can make his life. On the way there he meets his old friend Paul Hill and the two enjoy their time in London without actually doing anything. One night without any place to eat or sleep, they end up robbing. With some money now, Gerry returns back to his home in Belfast.

And the next thing that we see is the British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary arrests Gerry. He is brought back to mainland UK. His other friends get arrested too. The police torture and threaten Gerry and his friends for seven days under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and wrongly make them confess to those false charges. When Giuseppe Colon travels to England to meet his son he too is arrested along with the family of his sister-in-law, with whom he was staying. These people are termed as Maguire Seven.

The film continues with the trial, punishment and Gerry and his father Giuseppe's life in prison. They share the same cell. The film shows the attempts of a lawyer Gareth Peirce who campaigns for a re-trial and the release of these people and how things go ahead.

One of my personal favorites. It's one of most rightly cast movies ever. The father-son relationship portrayed between Giuseppe and Gerry is one of the best things in the film.

In The Name Of The Father got positive reviews and was received well. It has a 95% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film got seven Academy Award nominations - Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay), Best Editing, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Daniel Day-Lewis), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Pete Postlethwaite), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Emma Thompson), Best Director and Best Picture.

3-Iron

Audiences have always enjoyed love stories. There have been numerous stories told down throughout the ages. Most stories make people feel good. How about something different? Which is the most weirdest love story you have ever see? I'm quite sure you may have seen some. One such weird love story is 3-Iron, a South Korean film, released in 2004. It was written and directed by Kim Ki-duk, who is known for his unconventional stories and characters. 3-iron stars Jae Hee and Lee Seung-yeon as Tae-suk and Sun-hwa.

How is it different from any other story? The answer is that the two lead characters don't talk with each other. And to clear the first query which may come to your mind, they are not dumb. They maintain a silent relationship all throughout the movie, although towards the end, Sun-hwa speaks a few lines but there is no direct verbal interaction between the lead pair. Actually none of the characters talk much. The movie relies highly on emotions and abstract acts. 

3-Iron is a lovestory of Tae-suk, a drifter and Sun-hwa, an abused housewife. Although it is later made known to us that Tae-suk had a good education, we still see him as a drifter. He breaks into people's homes while they are away and stays there. He has good plan for that. He spends his days sticking take-away menus of resturants on the doors and later stops by to check which of them haven't been removed from the doors by their owners. This implies that people who stay in are away and Tae-suk gets in. Tae-suk is not a robber, on the contrary he washes their clothes, repairs their broken appliances, etc.

On one such break-in he meets Sun-hwa, the wife of an abusive man who has gone for a business trip. Since Sun-hwa has hidden herself to grieve, Tae-suk believes that the house is empty and breaks in.  An emotional bond forms between them. Tae-suk even saves Sun-hwa when her husband returns. She leaves her husband and goes with him. Her husband holds a grudge and that is also an important factor which influences the story ahead in a way.

The above events form just the first twenty minutes of the film, I'm really trying hard to not give away more of the story because that would rob you away of a splendid experience. Later you see the characters getting caught in their act of breaking in homes, also they are involved in a murder case and the subsequent imprisonment of Tae-suk. The movie goes ahead with Tae-suk's struggle against all of these odds to join his love in the end. The story ends in a very surprising manner, which is something we cannot anticipate during the first hour of the movie. The story can be boring and hard for someone without patience, trust me you need a lot of patience to soak the act in.

The film was received very well. It has won a lot of accolades around the world. It holds 87% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes.