The General (1998)

Story of the 1980's Irish criminal - folk hero Martin Cahill

This film tells the story from the 1980's of the celebrated Irish thief and sometimes folk hero, Martin Cahill.

An interesting film. I am not as well educated on the turmoil of Irish politics in that era as I would like to be. It appears to me that Cahill is presented as the enemy of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in that he was a competitor in crime -- and he was simulyaneously an enemy of the ruling government, simply in that he was a career criminal with some notorious heists to his credit and a bent for thumbing his nose at the authorities. He had meager beginnings, but clawed his way up. He lived very comfortably. He was also living in an open bigamous relationship with his wife and her sister. I think he is rather inappropriately potrayed as a kind of Robin Hood. His story has parallels as well to Al Capone, however. Cahill is merely a theiving thug, with no activity in prostitution, drugs, protection rackets, etc. He is vocal against illicit drugs, but is shown to have engaged in jury tampering (a most egregious crime in my opinion). In the end -- he was just a criminal with high aspirations, and not a hero by any measure.

As I said, this is an interesting film and an interesting story. Brendan Gleeson is absolutely believable as the hulking Cahill. Superb performance. John Voight is as believable as the understated Irish cop that hounds Cahill, accent and all.

Strange film technique, ranging from full color to black and white, to a muted in-between. I had trouble deciding if it was a production defect or a technical ploy by the director. Maybe a second viewing would reveal something. I had a little difficulty hearing much of the dialogue through the authentic but thick Irish accents. Fimed on location in Dublin.

An "off the beaten track" movie that I think was worth my time.

September 15, 2008

Fine, Little-Noticed Gangster Flick

"The General,"(1998), a fine, Dublin-set gangster flick based on the life of well-known Irish gangster Martin Cahill, was written by (film script, that is), produced by, and directed by British director John Boorman. It can only be described as latter-day film noir; it was theatrically released in black and white, is shot through with the darkest of humor, and does not end well for its gangster protaganist. It received a Boston Society Film Critics Award upon release.

The movie utilizes the flashback and frame mechanism, so we know its outcome from its beginning. Cahill (superbly played by Brendan Gleeson), goes through the gangster's usual career arc: tough kid from tough project; increasingly successful, big, talk of the town thefts; finally, too high a profile, which is his undoing: he is, increasingly, seen as an enemy by the then very powerful Irish Republican Army.

Gleeson, a talented, flexible, very popular actor, though not a very good-looking one, may never have played lead in any other movie, although he's made many. But he inhabits Cahill, called "The General" by his troops, as if born to play the titular part. He's sure perfect for it physically. He's ably assisted by the also very popular Adrian Dunbar, as his lieutenant, Noel. Sean McGinley does a memorable turn as Gary, one of the regulars. The lucky, or unlucky sisters, depending on how you feel about their situation, who spend their lives mixed up with Cahill, are also young women we've seen before-- Maria Doyle Kennedy and Angeline Ball, who were two of the three girls singing backup in "The Commitments." The American Jon Voigt, who plays Cahill's Javert, Inspector Ned Kenny, manages to do it quite well, and in as thick and incomprehensible a Dublin accent as any of the others. This company achieves some very powerful, profoundly troubling, scenes together.

The compact disc is rather an oddity; you can watch the picture in black and white, or in "desaturated color." If you pick color, you are getting a censored, cleaned-up script. The disc also offers those more legible yellow subtitles, in English. If you were born on this side of the Atlantic, you'd better go for them: that Dublin accent is very very difficult. It is a pity; the movie's flaws militate against its popularity, and it deserves better.



October 22, 2007

Entertaining

This movie will make you laugh and get angry. The antics that Cahill pulls on the Gardai are hilarious. If you like Irish culture then you will get a kick out of this movie. It shows you a glimpse into a poor Irishman's life. November 9, 2006

Another misfire from Boorman

John Boorman's 1998 The General was hailed as a major comeback, though it's hard to see why on the evidence of the film itself. One of three films made that year about famed Dublin criminal Martin Cahill (alongside Ordinary Decent Criminal and Vicious Circles), it has an abundance of incident and style (the film was shot in color but released in b&w Scope in some territories) but makes absolutely no impact and just goes on forever. With a main character who threatens witnesses, car bombs doctors, causes a hundred people to lose their jobs, tries to buy off the sexually abused daughter of one of his gang to keep out of jail and nails one of his own to a snooker table yet still remains a popular local legend and an attractive enough personality for his wife to not only approve but actually suggest a ménage a trios with her sister, it needs a charismatic central performance to sell the character and the film. It doesn't get it. Instead, it's lumbered with what may well be Brendan Gleeson's worst and most disinterested performance: he delivers his lines and stands in the right place but there's nothing to suggest either a local hero or the inner workings of a complex character. On the plus side, this helps not to overglamorize a character who is nothing more than an egotistical thug, but it's at odds with a script that seems to be expecting us to love him and his antics.

There's a minor section that picks up interest when the IRA whips up a local hate campaign against the `General' and his men, painting them as `anti-social' drug dealers purely because Cahill won't share his loot from a robbery with them, but its temporary resolution is so vaguely shot - something to do with Cahill donning a balaclava and joining the protestors which we're expected to find loveably cheeky - that it's just thrown away. Things are more successful in the last third as the pressure mounts and his army falls apart, but by then it's too late to really care. Adrian Dunbar, Maria Doyle Kennedy and the gorgeous Angeline Ball do good work in adoring supporting roles, but Jon Voight's hammy Garda beat cop seems to be there more for American sales than moral balance, overcompensating for Gleeson's comatose non-involvement in what feels like a total misfire. Come back Zardoz, all is forgiven.
June 29, 2006

"It's Us Against Them."

After seeing The General a second time, I have to say that Brendan Gleeson is one of the finest actors of our day. He impresses time and again be it in Troy, Gangs of New York, or in another Irish classic, The Snapper. What's really surprising here is that Jon Voight is nearly as good as Gleeson. His Irish accent is outstanding. The General has the same film noir feel of an early Guy Ritchie effort, but it is infinitely more complex due to its characterization. Perhaps the tale is historically inaccurate, yet this has to be one of the more seamlessly entertaining plots I've encountered. All of the criminal capers are quite novel, and there's nothing rehashed about its specifics. Cahill's strategies are rather amazing from his way he cements his alibis to his handling of his crew. The political facets are an added pleasure such as the way in which the IRA hangs like a poisonous cloud over all criminal activities in the Dublin underworld. One gradually begins to comprehend that they, just like the protestant paramilitaries, are not much different from their targets. What really makes this a five star affair is the uniqueness of Cahill which makes his life one that you'll not soon forget. December 24, 2005

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