New Trailer for the War Thriller ’71
We’ve got another trailer for the fantastically intense looking war thriller called ’71, which stars Jack O’Connell (Unbroken). The movie is set to screen at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and it's one I’ve got to make time to see because it looks great. Here’s the synopsis:
’71 takes place over a single night in the life of a young British soldier (Jack O’Connell) accidentally abandoned by his unit following a riot on the streets of Belfast in 1971. Unable to tell friend from foe, and increasingly wary of his own comrades, he must survive the night alone and find his way to safety through a disorientating, alien and deadly landscape.
Here’s a little history behind the development of the project from a general interview that was sent out:
After completing the critically acclaimed and multi award winning Channel 4 series ‘Top Boy’, director Yann Demange was ready to embark on his debut feature film. Despite developing and reading numerous scripts he had not found his next project. One screenplay he did not anticipate connecting with was a thriller set in Northern Ireland during the early years of the Troubles. However, after reading the script, he was gripped by the story of ’71, it struck a chord and the main character resonated with Demange.
The project was conceived a few years earlier as an original idea by producer Angus Lamont of Crab Apple Films. “I had a friend at school who joined the army at 15,” he said. “He’d already been to Cyprus and Northern Ireland while we were still doing our exams, he was so young to be in those situations. I’d also been researching The Troubles, and had come across a piece from the perspective of a Loyalist gang member. He talked about seeing a teenage British soldier crouched in a doorway, terrified, confused and crying in the middle of a sectarian riot. This young soldier, like most of the public on mainland UK, had no concept whatsoever of what was happening in Northern Ireland. I thought there was a story in his experience in that environment.”
It was this human experience that also attracted Demange. He immediately connected with the powerful narrative of the young man, which seemed universal and relevant in the modern world. This was a timeless story which would continue to appeal and captivate.
“I’d never had a burning desire to tell a story about Northern Ireland in that period” says Demange. “But it was a remarkable piece of writing. It was muscular, visceral and utterly engaging. Above all, the idea of young men sent to fight dirty wars also struck me as pertinent. Often, they have more in common with the kids they’re pitted against than the men they’re taking orders from. It could be Iraq or Afghanistan. In ’71’s protagonist, Gary, I saw the opportunity to explore the vulnerable masculinity of an anchorless boy, with no family, looking for a tribe to belong to and ultimately finding it in the army, only to be betrayed…”
‘71 will open in theaters February 27th, 2015.