Kneecap: The Movie

 

At the end of spring semester, I got into the band Kneecap. Their loudness helped me push through the stress of wrapping up the school year and dealing with bureaucratic noise. Additionally, Kneecap helped me channel and shape the intense feelings I had about the state of the world. Their strong stance on Gaza led to a ban in the US, but they continue to tour in Europe, singing in Irish and protesting genocide. You can check out their website here to learn more.

A few weeks ago, I watched Kneecap the movie on Netflix. It is hands down one of the funniest movies I have seen in awhile. It is a rags to riches story that chronicles the intersecting paths of Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap, and DJ Próvaí against the backdrop of the push to recognize and protect the Irish language in Northern Ireland. Mo Chara and Móglaí Bap are hapless drug dealers, living life day to day with little to show for it. Mo Chara gets picked up by the "peelers" (cops) and refuses to speak English, so an Irish translator is called in. Enter the man who will become DJ Próvaí, a mild-mannered school teacher who discovers Mo Chara's lyrics. After much persuading, the three join together to lay a few tracks and well, I won't give away the rest. The film is mostly in Irish, and uses subtitles and text on the screen to convey meaning.

Why not film a documentary if you want to capture the rise of your band? There are so many engaging and experimental (read: not boring) documentaries in the world that challenge audiences' notions of what the genre can do. I would argue that the madcap energy of this film, even with narrative stretches and embellishments is by far more engaging and perhaps truer to the band's own energy and life. The director, Rich Peppiatt, crafts so many moments of hilarity (when the band accidentally takes ketamine before a show) and pathos (Móglaí Bap's agoraphobic mam leaving the house to rally women for her son's cause). Móglaí Bap's father, played by Michael Fassbender, has faked his own death due to bombing too many cars in the name of Irish independence. He reemerges from his other life towards the end of the film in his son's time of need. While that moment is also imbued with so much humor ("You brought one gun to a kneecapping?"), it's an earlier scene that hits harder-- Móglaí Bap standing in a red payphone box calling his father. The camera pans to Fassbender, on the phone but silent, and then back to the child version of Móglaí Bap, emphasizing the impact of that relationship cut short.

At the end of the movie, text dominates the black screen, informing viewers that in 2022, the Identity and Language act passed. Then, viewers are reminded that indigenous languages are being lost still and at an alarming rate. It's this finale (which segues into video clips from the band's real life shows) that hits hard. How often do films in foreign languages rise to the top in the US? So many people hate reading subtitles and would rather watched dubbed films. Maybe it's time to ask what is lost for viewers when they deny themselves the chance to watch films in their original language. I think there is a still an idea that "foreign films" (i.e. anything not in English) are too artsy or boring or experimental. That shouldn't be the reason to not watch them. Anyway, I'll leave you with a clip that I think is funny.