The
film Patriot Games was
released in 1992 and stars Harrison Ford as CIA analyst Jack Ryan.
Early in the film, Ryan thwarts an IRA plot to assassinate members of
the Royal Family in London, involving him in affairs that will not
only threaten his life, but the life of his family. During his
interruption of the assassination plot, he manages to wrestle a gun
from one of the masked gunmen, and shoots another one, killing him.
The man who died turns out to be the brother of Sean Miller (Sean
Bean), who is part of the Provisional IRA, and seeks to exact his
revenge on Ryan throughout the film.
The
Devil's Own (1997) is another
film that also concerns the Irish struggle for independence. In this,
Harrison Ford plays Tom O'Meara, a NY cop who volunteers to house an
Irish immigrant. Little does O'Meara know that the immigrant he is
housing is actually one of the IRA's deadliest members. Frankie
McGuire (Brad Pitt) while in hiding in the United States is tasked
with buying weapons to further the IRA cause over in Ireland. The two
develop a friendship, and it can be seen that Frankie is a good hearted person who has to do unfortunately bad things to further a
cause he believes in, one that took the life of his brother.
Both
films portray the Irish as murderers who will stop at nothing in
order to achieve their goal. In the case of Patriot Games,
Miller goes as far as killing
his own team in order to pursue Ryan in the boat at the end of the
movie. This scene is particularly dark, with the only light coming
from the spotlight on the boat, indicating the evil intentions that
Miller has in store. When Miller is confronted about the chase for
Ryan being irrelevant to the mission, he screams that it is HIS
mission to kill Ryan, and shoots both of his teammates dead. The
character proxemics are close, which reveal that the three of them do
have a personal relationship with each other, even though the scene
takes a turn for the worse. The fact that they are all clothed in
black helps show that even though they die, and even though they
aren't as "bad" as Miller, they are still part of the bad
guys, having depicted them in several scenes previously doing things
most would consider evil.
In
The Devil's Own,
Frankie is depicted several times doing good things, such as being
particularly kind to O'Meara's daughter. However, the film also makes
sure the audience recognizes the danger that Frankie McGuire brings
to the table. In one scene in particular, Frankie goes to meet the
man he was supposed to buy the weapons from, but instead kills him
and his guards, and takes the weapons to his boat. The character
proxemics in this scene are public, in that Burke (Treat Williams)
and Frankie are very far apart, indicating that they are anything but
friends. The dominant objects in these frames are the characters,
emphasizing the importance of what is being exchanged between the
two. The light covering only half of Burke's face shows that he is
two faced, that he is about to double cross Frankie, namely by
killing his friend and tossing his head at Frankie. Frankie then
proceeds to kill everyone in the warehouse handily. The brutality
that Frankie shows gives the audience reason to root against him,
even if they are sympathetic to his cause.
Tom Mather
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