August 22 - Michael Collins

Today’s movie is a biographical drama with a scene that happens on August 22. Watch it tonight and enjoy.       

MICHAEL COLLINS               

The English crush the 1916 Easter Uprising in Dublin. Many of the leaders are shot, but Eamon de Valera is spared because he was born in the United States. Michael meets Kitty Kiernan, who starts a relationship with Boland.  Collins and Boland start organizing the IRA as a underground guerilla force. Collins get word from an informant, Ned Broy,  that the entire Irish cabinet is to be arrested. Valera says they should let  themselves be arrested in order to provoke public protest and they are all arrested, except for Collins and Boland. However, there are no protests.  After seeing the extent of the English files on the IRA, Collins starts to compile files on the English police. The IRA starts killing informants. Collins breaks Valera out of jail.  Valera and Boland leave for the USA. The English send in a special squad of MI5 men, the Cairo gang to get Collins. Broy is caught burning papers and killed, while Collins saves Kitty from arrest. Collins arranges to have fourteen of the Cairo gang  killed in one day. In retaliation the English fire into the crowd at an soccer match. When Valera returns from America he insists on an attack against the Custom House against Collin’s advice. The attack fails, but the English ask for a cease fire.  Collins is selected to go to London to negotiate with the English. Kitty breaks it off with Boland because she’s fallen in love with Collins. Collins negotiates the Irish Free State that is still tied to the English crown. In the Irish parliament the treaty is approved by the narrow vote of 64-57. Valera and his deputies who opposed the treaty leave the government. Collins and Kitty pursue a relationship as the Free State comes into existence. He asks Kitty to marry him. After the people vote to approve the treaty, Valera orders the IRA to attack the Four Courts. Collins reluctantly attacks the IRA since the  English from returning to deal with the IRA as they had threatened. During the battle Boland is killed. Collins tries to arrange a meeting with Valera to discuss peace. Valera’s representative tells Collins that they can meet the next day. On August 22, 1922 [1:59:35 to 2:04:10] while traveling to the meeting site Collins is ambushed by the IRA and assassinated. Kitty mourns his death.

                     

An interesting biopic. Collins is portrayed as a brilliant guerrilla leader who tried to work for peace. He was in fact the father of Irish independence.

Ireland: A History by Thomas Bartlett (Cambridge University Press, New York, 2010) at page 419 gives the date of Collins assassination as August 22, 1922.

Producer - Stephen Woolley                       

Director - Neil Jordan    

Screenplay - Neil Jordan                                                                                            

Runtime – 2 hours 13 minutes                                      

Released -  October 11, 1996                                        

Starring –

Liam Neeson as Michael Collins

Aidan Quinn as Harry Boland

Stephen Rea as Ned Broy

Alan Rickman as Éamon de Valera

Julia Roberts as Kitty Kiernan

Ian Hart as Joe O'Reilly

Brendan Gleeson as Liam Tobin

Seán McGinley as Smith

Gerard McSorley as Cathal Brugha

Owen O'Neill as Rory O'Connor

Charles Dance as Soames

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2014.