Kneecap review: Rap n' roll in Gaeilge

By Evelyn Cullen

‘EVERY word of Irish spoken is a bullet fired for Irish freedom’ is the refrain of the movie, which is set in Belfast in 2019, a semi-autobiographical story based on Irish language rap group Kneecap, “Gach focal a labhraítear i nGaeilge, is é piléar scaoilte ar son saoirse na hÉireann”.

Hearing this in Irish made me think of another reference to the word ‘piléar’ (bullet), the one in our national anthem ‘faoi lámhach na bpiléar, seo libh canaig’ amhran na bFiann’.

In our national anthem it’s about singing our patriotic song for Ireland’s cause amid the roar of the rifles and cannons that rang out at that bloody time in our history, the founding of the Irish state.

These days it’s at that rousing last line that we roar and cheer for our team usually at the beginning of a GAA match or to celebrate one of our gold medals at the Olympics.

In Kneecap it has a similar rousing effect, and the bullets are not far off either. Because this movie is violent and bloody, with scenes that make you wince. And with a name like ‘Kneecap’ that should hardly be surprising. It’s neither for the faint hearted or the under 16s, a rating which is warranted.

But it was far from violent scenes I was on a sunny Tuesday evening at Century Cinemas Letterkenny with a cheerful group of Gaeilgeoirífrom Líonra Leitir Ceanainn, the office for promoting the Irish language in the town and beyond.

As a Donegal person watching this movie my initial feeling was that this is a movie about the Irish language from a different view than I’m used too; it’s the Belfast view, the Northern Ireland view, and the contrast is stark.

It’s Irish like I’ve never heard it before, hard Irish spoken with curses, mixed up with drugs, violence and sex that brought a whole new meaning to the republican phrase ‘tiocfaidh ár lá’.

It was very far from the poetry and music I associate Irish with, though there was a rendition of ‘Óró ‘sé do bheatha ‘bhaile’.

It was devoid of the beautiful seanfhocail that say so much about Irish culture and Irish people such as ‘Ar scath a chéile a mhaireann na daoine’, a seanfhocal about how we all depend on each other, that became prevalent during covid.

Far from the dulce tones of Michael D. too, our much loved president who speaks Irish so poetically and in a way that evokes the history of Ireland poignantly and with such respect, his gentle blás soft on the ears and the heart.

I wonder what he makes of the movie.

But it’s a view that’s important to see, a view many of us in the south perhaps have been ignorant of. Maybe in the sense that we lack knowledge about it, but also in that we ignore it, and that’s why we are now a bit shocked at seeing it on the big screen around the world.

Read full story in today’s issue of Donegal News on shelves now.

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