''In the Name of the Father'' is a 1993 biographical crime drama film co-written and directed by Jim Sheridan. It is based on the true story of the Guildford Four, four people falsely convicted of the 1974

Guildford pub bombings The Guildford pub bombings occurred on 5 October 1974 when the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonated two gelignite bombs at two pubs in Guildford, Surrey, England. The pubs were targeted because they were popular with British Army p ...

which killed four off-duty British soldiers and a civilian. The screenplay was adapted by

Terry George Terence George (born 20 December 1952) is an Irish screenwriter and director. Much of his film work (e.g. ''The Boxer'', ''Some Mother's Son'', and ''In the Name of the Father'') involves "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland. He was nominated fo ...

and Jim Sheridan from the 1990 autobiography ''Proved Innocent: The Story of Gerry Conlon of the Guildford Four'' by Gerry Conlon. The film grossed $65 million at the box office and received overwhelmingly positive reviews. It was nominated for seven Oscars at the 66th Academy Awards, including

Best Actor in a Leading Role Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

( Daniel Day-Lewis),

Best Actor in a Supporting Role Best Actor in a Supporting Role may refer to: * AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role * BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role * Zee Cine Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Male * Zee Cine Award for Best Actor in a S ...

( Pete Postlethwaite), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (

Emma Thompson Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress. Regarded as one of the best actresses of her generation, she has received numerous accolades throughout her four-decade-long career, including two Academy Awards, two British A ...

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

, and Best Picture.

Plot

In Belfast, Gerry Conlon is mistaken for an IRA

sniper A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision r ...

by British security forces and pursued until a

riot A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targete ...

breaks out. Gerry is sent to London by his father Giuseppe to dissuade an IRA reprisal against him. One evening, Gerry burgles a prostitute's flat and steals £700. While he is taking drugs in a park with his friend Paul Hill, alongside homeless Irishman Charlie Burke, an explosion in Guildford occurs, killing four off-duty soldiers plus a civilian as well as injuring many others. Returning to Belfast sometime later, Gerry is captured by the British Army and

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal ...

and arrested on terrorism charges. Gerry is flown to the UK mainland, where he and his friend Paul, as well as two others are dubbed the Guildford Four are subjected to police torture as part of their interrogation. Gerry maintains his innocence, but signs a confession after the police threaten to kill his father, who is later arrested along with other members of the Conlon family, later dubbed the Maguire Seven. At his trial, although Gerry's defence points out numerous inconsistencies in the police investigation, he, along with the rest of the Guildford Four, is sentenced to life imprisonment. During their time in prison Gerry and Giuseppe are approached by new inmate Joe McAndrew, who informs them that he was the real perpetrator of the bombing and had confessed this to the police. They, in order to save face, withheld this new information. Though Gerry warms to Joe, his opinion changes when Joe sets a hated prison guard on fire during a riot. Giuseppe later dies in custody, leaving Gerry to take over his father's campaign for justice. Giuseppe's lawyer Gareth Peirce, who had been investigating the case on Giuseppe's behalf, discovers vital evidence related to Gerry's original alibi with a note attached that reads, "Not to be shown to the defense." Through a statement made by Charlie Burke, at a court appeal, it totally exonerates Gerry and the rest. The film ends with the current activities of the wrongly accused, but also that the police who investigated the case were never prosecuted for any wrongdoing. The real perpetrators of the Guildford Bombing have not been charged with the crime.

Cast

* Daniel Day-Lewis as Gerard Patrick "Gerry" Conlon * Pete Postlethwaite as Patrick "Giuseppe" Conlon *

as Gareth Peirce * John Lynch as Paul Hill * Corin Redgrave as Inspector Robert Dixon *

Beatie Edney Beatrice Edney (born 23 October 1962) is an English television actress. Born in London, she is the daughter of actress Sylvia Syms and her husband Alan Edney. Her brother is Benjamin Edney and her cousin is musician Nick Webb. Edney first came ...

Carole Richardson The Guildford Four and Maguire Seven were the collective names of two groups whose convictions in English courts in 1975 and 1976 for the Guildford pub bombings of 5 October 1974 were eventually quashed after long campaigns for justice. The Guil ...

John Benfield Jonathan Edmund Fulford "John" Turner (9 November 1951 – 16 June 2020), better known by his stage name John Benfield, was a British character actor. Biography Benfield appeared in 75 television episodes or films starting in 1981 with small pa ...

as Chief PO Barker * Paterson Joseph as Benbay * Marie Jones as Sarah Conlon * Gerard McSorley as Detective Pavis * Frank Harper as Ronnie Smalls * Mark Sheppard as Patrick Joseph "Paddy" Armstrong * Don Baker as Joe McAndrew * Tom Wilkinson as an Appeal Prosecutor Model, now actress, Saffron Burrows made her feature film debut in the film, as Gerry Conlon's free love-interest at a commune/squat in London at the time of the bombings.

Production

To prepare for the role of Gerry Conlon, Day-Lewis lost over 50 pounds in weight. To gain an insight into Conlon's thoughts and feelings at the time, Day-Lewis also spent three days and nights in a jail cell. He was prevented from sleeping by a group of thugs, who would bang on the door every ten minutes with tin cups through the night, then was interrogated by three different teams of real Special Branch officers for nine hours. He would also insist that crew members throw cold water at him and verbally abuse him. He also kept his Belfast accent on and off set. Day-Lewis has stated in an interview that he went through all this as "How could I understand how an innocent man could sign that confession and destroy his own life."

Reception

The film received very positive reviews from most critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a "Certified Fresh" score of 94% based on 49 reviews, with an average rating of 7.80/10. The site's consensus states: "Impassioned and meticulously observed, ''In the Name of the Father'' mines rousing drama from a factual miscarriage of justice, aided by scorching performances and director Jim Sheridan's humanist focus." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 84 out of 100 based on 16 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. The film was the second highest-grossing ever in Ireland (behind ''

Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later also referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton and centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. It began in 1990 when ...

)'', and the highest-grossing Irish film, beating the record set by '' The Commitments'' in 1991, with a gross of IR£2.91 million ($4.5 million).

Year-end lists

* 2nd –

James Berardinelli James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic and former engineer. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of r ...

, ''ReelViews'' * Top 10 (not ranked) – Dennis King, '' Tulsa World'' * Honorable mention – Dan Craft, '' The Pantagraph''

Accolades

Controversy

Upon its release the film proved controversial for some historical inaccuracies and for fictionalising parts of the story. Jim Sheridan was forced to defend his choices. In 2003, he stated: "I was accused of lying in ''In the Name of the Father'', but the real lie was saying it was a film about the Guildford Four when really it was about a non-violent parent." In the film we see Gerry and his father Giuseppe (in the closing credits, the name is misspelled 'Guiseppe') sharing a cell, but this never took place; they were usually kept in separate prisons. The courtroom scenes featuring Gareth Peirce were also heavily criticised as clearly straying from recorded events and established English legal practices since, as a

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

and not a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

, she would not have been able to appear in court at the time. Furthermore, Peirce did not represent Giuseppe Conlon. Investigative journalist David Pallister wrote, "The myriad absurdities in the court scenes, straight out of '' LA Law'', are inexcusable."

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the film includes the song " You Made Me the Thief of Your Heart" performed by

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor on 8 December 1966; ) is an Irish singer-songwriter. Her debut album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and charted internationally. Her second album, ''I Do Not Want What ...

and written by

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Born and raised in Dublin, he attended M ...

, Gavin Friday, and Maurice Seezer. It also includes "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" performed by The Jimi Hendrix Experience. However, the Bob Dylan Song "Like a Rolling Stone" was not included on the album due to licensing restrictions. The soundtrack featured these songs: # Bono and Gavin Friday - "In the Name of the Father" (5:42) # The Jimi Hendrix Experience - " Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" (5:09) # Bono and Gavin Friday - "Billy Boola" (3:45) # The Kinks - "

Dedicated Follower of Fashion "Dedicated Follower of Fashion" is a 1966 song by British band the Kinks. It lampoons the contemporary British fashion scene and mod culture in general. Originally released as a single, it has been included on many of the band's later albums. ...

" (3:00) # Trevor Jones - "Interrogation" (7:11) # Bob Marley and the Wailers - "

Is This Love Is This Love may refer to: * "Is This Love" (Daryl Braithwaite song) * "Is This Love?" (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah song) * "Is This Love?" (The Fireman song) * "Is This Love" (Aiden Grimshaw song) * "Is This Love" (Bob Marley & The Wailers song) ...

" (3:51) # Trevor Jones - "Walking the Circle" (4:42) # Thin Lizzy - " Whiskey in the Jar" (5:44) # Trevor Jones - "Passage of Time" (5:52) #

- " You Made Me the Thief of Your Heart" (6:21)

Filming locations

* South Lotts, Dublin, Ireland (used for opening Belfast scenes) * Sheriff Street, Dublin, Ireland (Sheriff Street flats complex (now demolished) used for riot scene) * Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin, Ireland (as Park Royal Prison) * Liverpool, England (used for many London scenes)

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:In The Name Of The Father 1993 films 1990s English-language films English-language Irish films 1990s biographical drama films 1990s prison films British biographical drama films British legal films British prison drama films Irish biographical films Irish drama films British courtroom films Political drama films Universal Pictures films Golden Bear winners Drama films based on actual events Films set in Belfast Films shot in the Republic of Ireland Films directed by Jim Sheridan Films about the Irish Republican Army Films about The Troubles (Northern Ireland) Films about lawyers Films about miscarriage of justice Films scored by Trevor Jones 1993 drama films 1990s British films