It's difficult to believe that this went into production in 2004 because it feels like it was made in the aftermath of the July 2005 London bombings to serve as a reminder to the world that Britain has been visited by ruthless terrorists who will stop at nothing to bomb the British people into submission . Indeed there's a moment when newsreel shows an old lady saying " If it's bloodshed they want then let them have bloodshed . Bring our boys home now " a statement that has obvious parallels to modern day British policy in Iraq
There's little I can criticise the producers , director or scriptwriter for , though maybe I should point out that
1 ) A bombing campaign in the West Midlands carried out by another IRA active service unit ( ASU ) is overlooked
2 ) The Provisional IRA ceasefire of 1975 in Northern Ireland wasn't really a ceasefire in its strictest sense - The Provos' just changed their name to " The Republican Action Force " and engaged in a sectarian campaign against the Unionist community and an internal feud against the Official IRA
3 ) The first two thirds of the narrative is so good that the last third featuring the Balcombe street siege is slightly anti climatic
But apart from that THE YEAR London BLEW UP is an absolutely gripping docudrama featuring reconstructions , interviews and newsreel footage
From the outset we hear no excuses for " The Balcombe Street Gang " . There's no historical discussion of Cromwell , the Irish potato famine , the partioning of Ireland , Bloody Sunday or the rights or wrongs of the Irish troubles . These men are rightly portrayed as the most ruthless terrorist cell to have set foot upon English soil at that time and the narrative is all the better for it . We see reconstructions of the bombings and shootings carried out and listen to the real life victims maimed for life or the orphans and widows of the murdered . Apparently going to a restaurant that had been bombed the previous day or doing a bit of Christmas shopping or even walking by a London pillar box makes you a legitimate terrorist target
The police at the time were at a loss as to how to stop this ASU , just like they're at a loss how to stop future terrorist attacks from Islamic extremists today .With the exception of one member ( Who was believed killed by his own bomb ) the ASU members had no previous convictions or were suspected members of the IRA and the story goes into how the police had to track down members due to very intensive detective work but mainly down to lucky breaks . A man is seen acting suspiciously in an area targeted by house breakings and is followed by a plain clothes policeman convinced he's a burglar and not an IRA member . A chase follows and an off duty policeman is shot dead which leads to the police tracking down the ASU safe house where they find fingerprints which leads to the identification and arrests of 14 other IRA members who were involved with this particular ASU at one time or another . Unfortunately they can't trace the four core members who are now engaged on a more reckless and violent campaign in the West End of London
One very interesting aspect is to do with the Guilford bombings which were immortalized in the movie IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER , which while being a very good film is not entirely accurate . What TYLBU shows is that one of the bombers in Guilford was a teenage girl with blond hair . One of the Guilford Four Carol Richardson was a blond teenager so you can see why the police may have jumped to the wrong conclusion . We're also shown a clip of the Balcombe Street gang looking at the newspaper reports of the Guilford Four being convicted and having a bloody good laugh . The scenes with one of the Balcombe Street gang apologizing to the Conlons in prison IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER is total invention and you feel that there's no sorrow or redemption in a terrorist heart
I expect this to pick up a few prestigious awards in the coming months
There's little I can criticise the producers , director or scriptwriter for , though maybe I should point out that
1 ) A bombing campaign in the West Midlands carried out by another IRA active service unit ( ASU ) is overlooked
2 ) The Provisional IRA ceasefire of 1975 in Northern Ireland wasn't really a ceasefire in its strictest sense - The Provos' just changed their name to " The Republican Action Force " and engaged in a sectarian campaign against the Unionist community and an internal feud against the Official IRA
3 ) The first two thirds of the narrative is so good that the last third featuring the Balcombe street siege is slightly anti climatic
But apart from that THE YEAR London BLEW UP is an absolutely gripping docudrama featuring reconstructions , interviews and newsreel footage
From the outset we hear no excuses for " The Balcombe Street Gang " . There's no historical discussion of Cromwell , the Irish potato famine , the partioning of Ireland , Bloody Sunday or the rights or wrongs of the Irish troubles . These men are rightly portrayed as the most ruthless terrorist cell to have set foot upon English soil at that time and the narrative is all the better for it . We see reconstructions of the bombings and shootings carried out and listen to the real life victims maimed for life or the orphans and widows of the murdered . Apparently going to a restaurant that had been bombed the previous day or doing a bit of Christmas shopping or even walking by a London pillar box makes you a legitimate terrorist target
The police at the time were at a loss as to how to stop this ASU , just like they're at a loss how to stop future terrorist attacks from Islamic extremists today .With the exception of one member ( Who was believed killed by his own bomb ) the ASU members had no previous convictions or were suspected members of the IRA and the story goes into how the police had to track down members due to very intensive detective work but mainly down to lucky breaks . A man is seen acting suspiciously in an area targeted by house breakings and is followed by a plain clothes policeman convinced he's a burglar and not an IRA member . A chase follows and an off duty policeman is shot dead which leads to the police tracking down the ASU safe house where they find fingerprints which leads to the identification and arrests of 14 other IRA members who were involved with this particular ASU at one time or another . Unfortunately they can't trace the four core members who are now engaged on a more reckless and violent campaign in the West End of London
One very interesting aspect is to do with the Guilford bombings which were immortalized in the movie IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER , which while being a very good film is not entirely accurate . What TYLBU shows is that one of the bombers in Guilford was a teenage girl with blond hair . One of the Guilford Four Carol Richardson was a blond teenager so you can see why the police may have jumped to the wrong conclusion . We're also shown a clip of the Balcombe Street gang looking at the newspaper reports of the Guilford Four being convicted and having a bloody good laugh . The scenes with one of the Balcombe Street gang apologizing to the Conlons in prison IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER is total invention and you feel that there's no sorrow or redemption in a terrorist heart
I expect this to pick up a few prestigious awards in the coming months
