3. Michael Collins (Neil Jordan, 1996)
The Subject Michael Collins, Irish revolutionary. The Story (According To The Film) After the Easter Rising of 1916, Michael Collins (Liam Neeson) and other Irish revolutionaries, including Eamon de Valera, are either killed or arrested by the British. After their release, Collins takes command of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) when de Valera is arrested once again. With friend Harry Boland at his side the organisation becomes more militant, treating collaboration with the British as a death penalty offence and launching assassination attempts against prominent British individuals before freeing de Valera from prison in England. Angry that he has been overshadowed by Collins actions, de Valera heads to America in an attempt to seek international recognition, taking Boland with him but returning unsuccessful. Attacks on the British continue until Collins is sent to London to negotiate with them, signing the Anglo-Irish treaty that puts Ireland on the path to independence but is opposed by de Valera and others, forcing former allies to fight against one another for their respective causes. This culminates in Collins death. The Lies Though its accuracy is considered superior to many other historical pieces, the film still takes a few liberties with history, with the most notable including the following: The death of Ned Broy. In the film, Broy is a double agent for the Irish nationalists within the Dublin Metropolitan Police but is eventually discovered, tortured and killed for his passing of sensitive information to Collins. In reality, he lived to the age of eighty five, dying in 1972 after a controversial political career. The depiction of Eamon de Valera, played by Alan Rickman in the film, is antagonistic in nature, creating a villain for Collins, the films hero. In reality, de Valera and his career of more than fifty years in politics have their fair share of critics, but few characterise him as weakly as the film does. The highly subjective manner in which the film as a whole is presented. The British are depicted as card-carrying villains and whilst few can argue that their actions in the Ireland of the time were acceptable, several of their depictions in the film, such as the massacre they commit at a Gaelic football game, are false or grossly exaggerated.