Bloody Sunday

Paul Greengrass, 2002 (8.8*)

The events of the day now known as Bloody Sunday in 1972 in No. Ireland are shown in documentary style as they unfolded for each of the participants. Director Greengrass (United 93) excels at this type of recreated documentary, using well-researched facts to recreate historical events as accurately as possible. His films have the look that journalists just happened to be there, up close, and were able to film events from an eyewitness perspective.

Here Greengrass shifts between the politicians planning a civil rights march in Derry, Northern Ireland, which has been prohibited by the British occupying forces, to the command of the local British army unit, to local teens planning on participating in the march. This style maintains the tension throughout even if you know the march's outcome already, even though it begins more slowly then builds momentum. The resulting tragedy is almost too much to witness again; I imagine that many in the U.K. can't find the strength to view this film.

Bloody Sunday won 19 awards worldwide, and garnered another 21 nominations. The awards page at IMDB

This intimate style of Greengrass's also worked very well in his riveting story of the events of 9/11 as they unfolded in the film United 93, in almost real time.

Greengrass (photo rt) was ranked #56 on the list of "most influential 100 in British culture" in 2008

The Wikipedia article on the events leading up to and Bloody Sunday itself