Starring: Naoise O Caireallain, Liam Og O Hannaidh, JJ O Dochartaigh, Josie Walker, Fionnula Flaherty and Michael Fassbender
Distributor: Sony Pictures
Runtime: 106 mins. Reviewed in Aug 2024
Reviewer: Peter W Sheehan
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This Irish comedy-drama describes the rise of a Belfast-based hip-hop group called ‘Kneecap’, the members of which have significant messages to convey relating to Irish identity.
Reflecting the real-life creation of a musical performing trio, called ‘Kneecap’, the film is a politically-sophisticated, if also drug-laced, comedy offering a spirited defence of the Irish language. It advocates freedom and skirts the divide between political commentary that criticises sectarianism and musical entertainment. The group’s members are Hannaidh, Caireallain and Dochartaigh. They play themselves in a reimagining of their life as rappers from Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The artistic intent of Kneecap reflects the fact the group uses the Irish language in all of its performances, and writer-director Peppiatt is faithful to that intent. The use of Irish language in the film is linked integrally to the defiance of the Irish people against British imperialism. Ireland’s native tongue was banned by the British for centuries, and not until July 1922 was the Irish language declared as official in the Official Languages Act for use in Northern Ireland.
The film projects the Irish language as a critical emblem of an enduring culture. Two of the characters in the group lived by selling narcotics purchased on the dark web, and other conflicts of culture are apparent – Hannaidh is conflicted by his entanglement with a Protestant girl, and Caireallain resents being the son of a high-ranking IRA member (represented briefly in the film by well-known Irish actor, Fassbender).
The group laces the verses it sings with drug use, hedonism, resentment, military anger, and public rebelliousness against authority. All members of the group sing with pride about their Irish heritage. Dochartaigh uses his tattooed naked backside in his rap performances to make his Irish allegiance forcefully evident, and the group freely mixes obscenity in the music it plays.
Kneecap offers emotional performances of highly talented musicians. The movie uses excellent cinematography to communicate its messages, and all the rappers enthusiastically display their skills. The film can be viewed in summary as an offbeat, anarchical film that uses humour to convey the battle to preserve the glory of the Irish language.
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