Bloody Sunday

I can't believe the news today. Oh, I can't close my eyes and make it go away. How long...how long must we sing this song? How long, how long... 'Cause tonight we can be as one tonight... Whoever says Bloody Sunday is one-sided has no eyes. The protesters are too determined and talk to each other several times about attacking before the fatal break happens. Conversely, the soldiers are under pressure, but that doesn't change how incredibly cowardly and insane they will end up being in the next breath. When ever I hear a phrase like "Humanity may not deserve to survive" in a movie again, a scene of screaming, defenseless people being shot in the back will pop into my mind. Is it possible for something like this to happen decades after World War II? And that decades after Bloody Sunday, this theme, in its various permutations, is still so painfully relevant? And the battle's just begun. There's many lost, but tell me who has won.... (14/09/2007)

A highly evocative and uncomfortable spectacle that digs deep into the skin with its authenticity and low-budget execution. After it was over I was furious and couldn't believe what people are capable of and the injustices they can tolerate, which was precisely the intention of the director. It's not a particularly gripping film and with the exception of the last act nothing much happens, but WHAT and especially HOW it happens afterwards clearly overwhelms everything and in the end it's the viewer who Greengrass gives the K.O. to, perfectly imprinting his vision of what really happened back then – I wish it had never happened. 4 and 1/2 stars. (01/04/2013)

An impressively crafted “documentary”, extremely raw and sparingly shot. It’s not wonder that after this, they watned Paul Greengrass for Bourne, where unlike Bloody Sunday he had an attractive movie cover of a fictional hero, so it was fun, because this film, from a cinema point of view, is not fun, it's excruciatingly long and extremely volatile. As a probe into history, it is impressive, and as far as its narrative value is concerned, there is nothing to complain about. But to make it into a nearly two-hour film, with a cameraman bouncing around the set most of the time with a handheld camera, that's a living hell. (24/09/2017)

A film about human rights, which don't simply fall from the sky, even in the oldest European democracy. Practically everything - the performances, expressive techniques, and editing - is subordinated to a documentary approach, as if we were watching archival television footage of a demonstration. The shaky camera moves from place to place, creating the impression of a war reporter's work. This is an example of a politically engaged film, based on a true event. Overall impression: 85%. (12/07/2006)

A very documentary and realistic account of the events running up to Black Sunday on January 30th, 1972; an event that fueled the IRA’s cause... The movie follows (without judging) how all of the parties involved saw things. Greengrass for the first time showed that he is not only a very able screenwriter, but also a very talented director whose style of shaky directing and camera sucks you into the action. Despite being very strong with lots of powerful moments, the ending could have been drawn out a little longer, letting it sink in better, like in United 93. (26/03/2005)