I wasn't expecting to be watching a film tonight. What was on telly wasn't advertised as a film - but was film-length, and has an IMDB entry. And is narrated by Stephen Rea. Unquiet Graves is a feature-length documentary about collusion between British forces in Northern Ireland, and Loyalist paramilitaries. And I'm very glad I watched it.
I was a kid when all this happened, you know - and mercifully, it never touched me personally, being from the other end of the island. All I ever knew about NI was what I heard on the nightly news - bombings, shootings, kidnappings.. But I was surprised that what this film contains also came as news to my mother. I guess she was busy with me at the time, not that interested in politics - and we didn't know anyone from there. Of course, you'd have been out of your mind to go there on holiday!
Everyone knows there was collusion. I was surprised, however, to learn that Loyalist paramilitaries were actually recruited to the UDR! (This was the Ulster Defence Regiment, a branch of the British army that only operated in Northern Ireland.) And as you might expect, they began a reign of terror against the Catholic, nationalist community - I'd forgotten that there were refugee camps in the Republic, to which some 10,000 fled from the butchery. Catholics were being shot in their homes, on the roads if they were unlucky enough to come across a fake checkpoint - and, of course, there were the pub bombings. Primarily, the film deals with the Glennane gang, an unholy alliance of the UDR, RUC (police), and UVF (paramilitaries), which was responsible for the murder of some 120 Catholics.
Includes interviews with people involved (on both sides), and a very interesting interview with a quite shocked member of the Met, who - investigating, years later - simply couldn't believe that the police knew all the facts, but didn't seem at all interested in opening any kind of investigation. Indeed - but what would you expect from an establishment that never imprisons any of its own? It sickens me when I hear them try to extend their authority to have soldiers and police avoid prosecution.
And what honour can you expect from an establishment that, as we speak, is trying to renege on an international treaty, which took years to negotiate, and which they themselves pushed through last year: before deciding, just recently, that no, actually, they don't like it after all.. Even they acknowledge that to break it would violate international law. They just don't care. So - do you think that this is the kind of government that gives a fig about justice and the rule of law in Northern Ireland? A political entity created by the British, who are now trying to blame the EU for bringing it up, saying they're using it as a stick to beat them with. No, this is not a government from which you can expect justice.
Well, with most Meetups happening in person now (and me unable to join), I'm looking at film again for Saturday. And what's coming up now isn't on Amazon Prime, for once - nope, it's on the Sands Films website! The best option there seems to be The Company of Strangers (aka Strangers in Good Company), about a group of elderly women whose minibus breaks down in Canada, in the middle of nowhere, forcing them to spend the night in each other's company. Mostly ad-libbed.
And on Sunday, wouldya believe it, I'm back with the Crick Crack Club! This is a live-streamed event from King's Place, which I booked last Christmas (!), and which is taking place at the venue: but with the live streaming, I asked for my ticket to be changed to a virtual one. After all, the Irish government is very unlikely to let me go back in time for it! (Well, they would, but I'd have to quarantine upon coming back to Ireland. And even if I did do that, I don't want to risk it, as I'm living with my elderly mother.) Means I'll have to miss next weekend's London Social Detours Meetup, which this time is on Sunday, but what the hey. Anyway, the storytelling is On Common Ground - The Life and Times of John Clare, as told by Hugh Lupton. Sadly, there's yet more storytelling there that evening - Ben Haggarty is performing Storytelling for Grownups - the Grateful and the Dead. But that's not being live-streamed. :-( Live only, with social distancing, and already sold out. Of course.
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