Product Description

The true story of a dublin youth wrongly imprisoned for an ira bombing and vindicated in a courtroom battle. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 09/02/2003 Starring: Daniel Day-lewis Emma Thompson Run time: 133 minutes Rating: R

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5225 in DVD
• Brand: Universal
• Released on: 1998-07-08
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 133 minutes

Amazon.com
Based on a true story, this rousing and tough-minded film details British overzealousness in prosecuting an IRA bombing in the 1970s. Grabbing up a pair of small-time thieves (Daniel Day-Lewis and John Lynch) and their families, the government concocts a conspiracy case against them and tosses them all in jail. Until then, Day-Lewis has been a ne'er-do-well, an apolitical goof looking for a quick score. But confronted with the toughness of his own father (Pete Postlethwaite) in the face of British torture, he begins to realize just what the stakes are. In the Name of the Father is at times grueling and never less than compelling, with a complex performance by Day-Lewis and a strong one by Emma Thompson, as the lawyer who finally cracks through the British obstructions to the truth. --Marshall Fine

From The New Yorker
Jim Sheridan's ragged, fascinating new movie is based on the autobiography of Gerry Conlon, a Belfast Catholic who spent nearly fifteen years in British prisons for a crime he didn't commit. Conlon (Daniel Day-Lewis) and three friends were accused of participating in the 1974 bombing of a pub near London, in which five people were killed; the only evidence against the defendants was their own confessions, extracted from them by means of brutal police interrogations. When Sheridan and his co-screenwriter, Terry George, try to function as historians, the movie feels shaky. But when Gerry and his father (Pete Postlethwaite)-who has been convicted on a different charge-get to prison, the filmmakers begin to explore their real theme, which is the intimate emotional consequences of oppression and prejudice. The picture turns into a kind of stylized morality play about the right and the wrong ways for Irishmen to respond to distorted portraits of their character, and it's terrifically effective. Day-Lewis, Postlethwaite, and Don Baker (playing a chillingly self-possessed I.R.A. man) are superb. Also with Emma Thompson and Corin Redgrave. -Terrence Rafferty
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

A stunning film about injustice
This is a brilliant film, which shows the appalling events behind a major miscarriage of justice. I found it very moving, and thought the acting and directing was excellent.

This is something I would recommend to anyone.

20 stars!
I bought this film as soon as it came out on Video. I've watched it through about 20 times & have watched certain scenes over & over. The scene in the prison when Gerry Conlon's father is put into the same cell with his son is riviting. Day-Lewis's emotions build from confused to irate to explosive. Pete Postlethwait's sad, shocked reactions work perfectly with Day-Lewis. Throughout the film, these two work off each other--from lackadasical youth shunning his father's advice to mature, driven young man determined to be free. My Dad is 1/3 Irish & my mother 1/2 Brit. So I've got a war going on inside me which sometimes blasts out like Gerry: "Delayed shock! I've been this way since I was 7!!!" The musical score is brilliant. Also, I'd advise you read the book by Gerry Conlon. He is honest & straightforward. It's not just Britain that imprisons people wrongly, America has Quantanamo Bay. This is a cautionary tale for the justice system which should be shown to students of history in every high school, as well as to every civil servant--from Parliment to Senate to Congress. As Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young sang "Battle Lines Being Drawn, Nobody's Right if Everybody's Wrong."

Wrong Place At The Wrong Time
A remarkable film based on the true story of Gerry Conlan, In The Name Of The Father has one of the most gripping opening 20 minutes of any movie I have ever seen. The entire film is incredibly well written and superbly acted.
Essentially a tale of the miscarriage of justice and the abuse of police powers during the troubles, the film begins in Belfast with the British troops mistaking Conlon (Danile Day Lewis) for an IRA sniper and chaos ensues. This is just a foretelling of a much more serious mistake in identity that results in his being accused of being one of the Guilford Four bombers after being picked up by the police in London where he and his friend have gone to escape the dangers of Belfast.

Lewis is amazing in the lead role and the rest of the cast is fabulous as well. In the Name Of The Father is a story that serves as a cautionary tale regarding the abuse of power and how being the in wrong place at the wrong time can have devastating consequences.