Amazon.com Essentials:
Irish writer-director Neil Jordan followed up his surprise hit
The Crying Game
with this controversial biography of IRA leader Michael Collins (Liam
Neeson), one of the most important political leaders of the 20th
century. The film follows Collins as he matures from guerrilla leader
to national hero and statesman. Jordan's take on Collins is that he
was set up by Irish president Eamon De Valera (Alan Rickman), who was
jealous of Collins's legendary popularity. De Valera puts Collins in the
position of negotiating a peace treaty that would never satisfy the
Irish hero's hard-core followers. When the IRA leader returns with a first-step
compromise, De Valera undercuts Collins's popularity by refusing to support
the revised treaty. And the civil war continues for decades. Michael Collins
occasionally loses focus and momentum, but is the kind of exciting
historical drama that deserves to be called "sweeping." It
is also one of the most beautifully photographed films in years:
cinematographer Chris Menges uses color and texture to set moods and
accent emotions. The movie also stars Aidan Quinn, Julia Roberts, and
Stephen Rea. The digital video disc includes a 50-minute BBC
documentary on the making of the movie. --Jim Emerson
Amazon.com Essentials:
A heartfelt epic from Irish director Neal Jordan (The Crying Game,
Interview with the
Vampire), Michael Collins is the biography of the
charismatic and controversial Irish rebel leader who led the fight for
independence from Britain. Among the most beautiful and
atmospherically photographed movies of the '90s, Michael
Collins is also a rich and intelligent study of the nature of
politics and leadership: the IRA spokesman, full of fiery convictions,
eventually gives way to the more mature negotiator who strives to
reach a compromise solution and is politically undone in the process.
Liam Neeson gives a grand and towering performance as Collins, but for
all the character's legendary, heroic, or otherwise larger-than-life
attributes, Jordan and Neeson also keep him human. This is sweeping
historical filmmaking of the kind we haven't seen since the heyday of
David Lean, but with Jordan's characteristic touches of complexity and
ambivalence. --Jim Emerson
