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Bloody Sunday - Paul Greengrass, James Nesbitt, Tim Pigott-Smith, Nicholas Farrell

Threat advisory: High - High risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

A documentary-style drama recreating the events of 30 January 1972 in Derry, Ireland, when a Socialist meeting attended by Irish agitators ended in bloodshed.

Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film Ireland Bloody Sundy Socialist police riot Derry drama history British resistance

Persons of interest

James Nesbitt .... Ivan Cooper
Tim Pigott-Smith .... Major General Ford
Nicholas Farrell .... Brigadier Maclellan
Gerard McSorley .... Chief Superintendent Lagan
Kathy Kiera Clarke .... Frances
Allan Gildea .... Kevin McCorry
Gerard Crossan .... Eamonn McCann
Mary Moulds .... Bernadette Devlin
Carmel McCallion .... Bridget Bond
Christopher Villiers .... Major Steele
James Hewitt .... Colonel Tugwell
Declan Duddy .... Gerry Donaghy
Joanne Lindsay .... Mary Donaghy
Don Mullan .... Author: Eyewitness Bloody Sunday
Paul Greengrass .... Screenwriter
Paul Greengrass .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Bloody Sunday official movie site
Awards and film festivals:

Studios and distributors:

Paramount Pictures

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

Cinema verité.

Bloody Sunday is the Blair witch project of politics: lots of shaky hand-held shots of intimate moments. So shaky that you imagine that the cameraperson has Parkinson's Disease. So shaky that I felt like vomiting for hours afterward. It's an effective tool but it can have unintended results.

Politically, everyone gets some measure of blame for the bloody events of Bloody Sunday, even those who went into it with the best of intentions (you know to which place they lead), and most likely, everyone involved does deserve some blood on their hands even if most is laid on the hands of the British soldiers. Northern Ireland is Britain's Vietnam: a fight that can't be won by guns between two sides that can't be told apart until they reveal their politics. Fortunately, it has had a better resolution than the USA's version, won by people talking and listening, even though it is no less bloody.

The acting is such that you will be amazed: how is it that people can perform so strongly in the story of another person's life? Not once is there a time when you think, "This is a movie, not a documentary", not once do you think, "Those are just actors". James Nesbitt stands out as an actor who is inside the skin of a character.

As for whether you will want to see Bloody Sunday, that's another question. The subject matter is difficult, the presentation is difficult and the realisation is difficult. You will have to think very hard both during and after the film. Think carefully before you subject yourself to the experience: it's much safer to put you head in the sand.

PS: You do get to hear the great song by U2, recorded in concert, at the very end.