Kneecap
Writer-director Rich Peppiatt provides high energy of a remarkable kind in an unorthodox Irish comedy that offers more than music.
Image courtesy of Curzon Film Distributors.
Here's a film that comes out of the blue and knocks you for six. That's not unknown, of course, and it happened in 1996 when the sheer energy behind the opening of Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting swept us off our feet. That film instantly comes to mind when watching Kneecap and it proves to be a comparison that is valid on several levels. That's so even if, on paper, it might have seemed far more apt to regard this film as a companion piece to Richard Lester's A Hard Day’s Night. That film saw The Beatles playing versions of themselves along with Wilfrid Brambell appearing as Paul McCartney's fictional grandfather and there is a distinct echo of that here since this new film finds the hip hop trio known as Kneecap acting out a tale based on their own lives. But, whereas the arrival on screen of The Beatles in 1964 was hardly surprising given that they were already world famous, Kneecap, who are based in West Belfast, have made their leap into cinema while still relative newcomers their studio albums to date being only two in number.
Despite fictional additions Kneecap essentially finds the trio re-enacting their own story and doing so with an ease on screen that cannot be taken for granted. It’s even more extraordinary that this memorably astute piece of filmmaking is the work of somebody not yet well established in cinema: he is Rich Peppiatt here moving on from shorts and TV episodes to his first fully-fledged feature with actors. Peppiatt is the director and, working on a story conceived by him and by Kneecap themselves, also the author of the screenplay. In 2021 he had made a three-minute music video with them but the move from that to this feature was a giant step and all the more so because the style and tone of the film are so adventurous.
The film uses one of the group, Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, as its narrator and he is soon telling us how the group was formed with Liam himself taking on the name of Mo Chara, his friend Naoise Ó Cairealláin becoming Móglaí Bap and their acquaintance, a music teacher named JJ Ó Dochartaigh, calling himself DJ Próvaí. But, while such a tale could have been told in a standard, unimaginative way, Kneecap from the start asserts its own irreverent style. Not all of this is unexpected today. Be it in the voice-over commentary, the dialogue or the song lyrics, the film incorporates frequent strong language and even before Kneecap is set up as a group the two younger members are shown dealing in drugs which they themselves take. The British censor has responded with an ‘18’ certificate and may be concerned that the film could easily be interpreted as encouraging drug use (that was felt too in the case of Trainspotting although Boyle’s film contained scenes that could be viewed as a warning against drug use).
But even the more familiar ingredients can surprise in the way that they are handled here. Kneecap contains a real feel for language which extends even to the swearwords and, while Peppiatt is apparently British-Irish one feels that it is his Irish side that makes his screenplay so adept in the use of words. Furthermore, the writing is such that it gives players in supporting roles the opportunity to make a strong impression. They include Michael Fassbender and Simone Kirby as Naoise's parents, Fionnuala Flanagan as JJ's partner, Josie Walker as a detective with her eye on Liam in particular and Jessica Reynolds as the detective’s niece who is Liam’s Protestant girlfriend. These roles carry far more depth and conviction than one might have anticipated. Indeed, while humorous dialogue is rife, the more dramatic scenes work just as well.
If the film is a vibrant expression of youthful rebelliousness likely to have a special appeal to younger audiences, others may be won over by the warmth of the film and by its sincerity when it comes to another major theme present throughout. Kneecap follows the example of that fine and very different piece 2022’s The Quiet Girl in being a work acted in the Irish language with English subtitles added. That could not be more in keeping because asserting the importance of not allowing Irish Gaelic to die out is a key concern here and that language features in many of the songs written and performed by Kneecap. A statement at the film’s close emphasises the serious point being made by referring to the number of indigenous languages now lost.
This theme is also linked to a further key feature of this extraordinary film. The generation represented by our trio is referred to as being ‘The Ceasefire Babies’ since they were born after The Troubles ended but that old history is far from forgotten here. Naoise’s father is portrayed as a former IRA man who faked his own death and the film actually begins with scenes of violence associated with those days. However, this start is turned into something akin to black comedy since what we see is described as the way in which all films about Belfast open before an alternative opening is offered up. But, if Irish Republicans can be satirised (at one point we encounter an organisation known as Radical Republicans Against Drugs), there is a very strong emphasis on Republican sentiment including a passing reference to Bobby Sands and repeated demands that declare “Get the British Out”. Later the group’s embrace of the country’s own language is supported by the statement "Every word you say in Irish is a bullet" and one can only hope that it is strictly metaphorical. In point of fact in a recent interview Ó Dochartaigh declared on behalf of Kneecap that they do not want see anybody getting hurt, but that may not stop some viewers from reacting differently especially in the light of the way in which the police are portrayed and the film’s general anti-authoritarian tone. But any such worries may seem irrelevant to those who seek out Kneecap for its free-wheeling style and energy and, of course, for its music. Ultimately the storyline itself – the eventual success of a new group of musicians – may be conventional, but the style and finesse of the piece is something special and that applies throughout.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Naoise Ó Cairealláin, Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, JJ Ó Dochartaigh, Josie Walker, Fionnuala Flaherty, Simone Kirby, Jessica Reynolds, Michael Fassbender, Labor Roddy, Adam Best, Donagh Deeney.
Dir Rich Peppiatt, Pro Trevor Birney and Jack Tarling, Screenplay Rich Peppiatt, from a story by Naoise Ó Cairealláin, Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, JJ Ó Dochartaigh and himself, Ph Ryan Kernaghan, Pro Des Nicola Moroney Ed Julian Ulrichs and Chris Gill, Music Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante, Costumes Zjena Glamocanin.
TGC/Fine Point Films/DMC Film/Mother Tongues Films/BFI/Screen Ireland/Charades/Naughty Step-Curzon Film Distributors.
105 mins. UK/Ireland/France. 2024. US Rel: 2 August 2024. UK Rel: 16 August 2024. Cert. 18.
