The last film screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 1968. A provocative,…
The Jackets Green
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
"What are you fighting for?"
Armed simply with this question, Arthur Mac Caig goes to Northern Ireland to confront Irish Republicans. The result is an inside look at the ghettos of Belfast.
The first image is of a young man marching through the city streets. He is 20 years old, but very much a child. His face belies enormous tension, as does the tight grip on his rifle. His teeth are clenched in fear. Rita O'Hare, director of "Republican News," a nationalist weekly, was severely wounded by British soldiers. Later imprisoned for 3 years, she now lives in exile in the South of Ireland. Then there is Brendan Hughes, former IRA leader, who has spent 13 years in prison, conducted a 53 day hunger strike, and been tortured on several occasions. He says, "In the beginning when a soldier or a policeman had been killed, I was happy. But now I feel sadness. I don't wish the death of anyone, but here the only reality is war."
THE JACKETS GREEN calls no one to arms, but offers simple portraits of a few men and women most often represented as fanatical zealots. As they speak candidly about their cause, it becomes difficult to continue branding them as "terrorists."
"An expressionistic and very lyrical trip through the streets of Belfast. [Mac Caig's] camera, subjective as it may be, delivers rare emotional forces."—Humanité (Paris)
"The images carry an emotional charge that is incompatible with objectivity. Rather, we have a poem about an endless revolt, the lament of the IRA, and of British torture. There are the troubled looks of the children, songs that warm the heart and the cold prisons that destroy them."—Antoine Perraued, Telerama (Paris)
Citation
Main credits
Mac Caig, Arthur (film director)
Other credits
Image and sound, Mick Collins; editor, Arthur Mac Caig; music: Enya, Bridge Kernan, Christy Moore.
Distributor subjects
Conflict Resolution; Human Rights; Ireland; Western EuropeKeywords
IRA; Ireland; England; human rights; video; "The Jackets Green"; Icarus Films; "The Jackets Green"; Icarus Films
WEBVTT
00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:57.999
Belfast, Northern Ireland.
00:00:58.000 --> 00:00:59.474
Sixty five years
after its creation,
00:00:59.475 --> 00:01:03.910
this tiny state governed by
London remains unstable.
00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:06.469
The British forces
have constantly
00:01:06.470 --> 00:01:08.049
been opposed by the IRA,
00:01:08.050 --> 00:01:09.729
the Irish Republican Army,
00:01:09.730 --> 00:01:13.159
a clandestine military
organization.
00:01:13.160 --> 00:01:15.199
The IRA is supported
by Sinn Féin,
00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:18.840
the legal critical branch of
the nationalist movement.
00:01:20.620 --> 00:01:23.389
This film is a brief voyage
00:01:23.390 --> 00:01:25.713
onto one side of this conflict,
00:01:25.714 --> 00:01:28.680
that if the Irish Nationalist.
00:01:34.910 --> 00:01:40.600
In West Belfast, unemployment
is well over 50 percent.
00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:44.529
This part of this city
occupied, patrolled,
00:01:44.530 --> 00:01:45.859
and placed under constant
00:01:45.860 --> 00:01:48.540
surveillance by the British army.
00:01:50.770 --> 00:01:55.980
Nonetheless, West Belfast
remains an IRA stronghold.
00:02:06.910 --> 00:02:09.364
When I first was
arrested, that when
00:02:09.365 --> 00:02:11.554
the British troops raided
the house that I was in,
00:02:11.555 --> 00:02:15.064
and they arrested
me. I felt relief.
00:02:15.065 --> 00:02:17.389
I\'ve been on the run
for almost three years,
00:02:17.390 --> 00:02:19.489
which was tiring,
which was exhausting,
00:02:19.490 --> 00:02:21.739
and which was pressure.
00:02:21.740 --> 00:02:26.239
My initial feeling of
relief didn\'t last
00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:27.919
very long because I was
00:02:27.920 --> 00:02:30.919
then taken to
interrogation center.
00:02:30.920 --> 00:02:34.189
There was fear. I didn\'t
know when I was going
00:02:34.190 --> 00:02:36.319
to get out of the
interrogation center,
00:02:36.320 --> 00:02:38.079
I didn\'t know if I
was going to die.
00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:41.804
Today, Brendan Hughes
is a member of Sinn Féin.
00:02:41.805 --> 00:02:43.759
But during the 1970s,
00:02:43.760 --> 00:02:45.529
he was considered by
the British Army to
00:02:45.530 --> 00:02:47.689
be an important
leader of the IRA.
00:02:47.690 --> 00:02:51.049
Arrested and interned in 1973,
00:02:51.050 --> 00:02:53.029
he became one of the
first prisoners to
00:02:53.030 --> 00:02:56.640
escape from the high security
prison of Long Kesh.
00:02:57.160 --> 00:03:00.954
Brendan Hughes has spent
13 years in prison.
00:03:00.955 --> 00:03:02.369
When they first
brought us to the
00:03:02.370 --> 00:03:04.214
barracks which is
Springfield Road,
00:03:04.215 --> 00:03:06.329
I was tied to the chair,
00:03:06.330 --> 00:03:08.624
and was repeatedly punched,
00:03:08.625 --> 00:03:10.984
my private parts were squeezed
00:03:10.985 --> 00:03:13.249
over a period of
two or three hours.
00:03:13.250 --> 00:03:15.114
A gun was put in my head
00:03:15.115 --> 00:03:19.169
and there was no
ammunition in the weapon,
00:03:19.170 --> 00:03:20.749
they fired the weapon, and told
00:03:20.750 --> 00:03:22.429
me that they were going to kill
00:03:22.430 --> 00:03:25.939
me and dump me up right
here [inaudible].
00:03:25.940 --> 00:03:27.799
My hands was stretched out
on the table and I was
00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:29.889
repeatedly hit with
a small hammer,
00:03:29.890 --> 00:03:32.530
it caused my hands to swell up.
00:03:32.900 --> 00:03:36.704
This went on for a period
of eight to nine hours.
00:03:36.705 --> 00:03:38.789
Repeatedly punching,
repeatedly asking
00:03:38.790 --> 00:03:40.214
questions about other people,
00:03:40.215 --> 00:03:42.910
other members of the
Republican movement.
00:03:46.070 --> 00:03:49.304
Born in Belfast,
mother and grandmother,
00:03:49.305 --> 00:03:52.304
Rita O\'hare is presently
editor of Republican News,
00:03:52.305 --> 00:03:55.099
the widest selling weekly
newspaper in Ireland.
00:03:55.100 --> 00:03:56.869
In 1971, she was
00:03:56.870 --> 00:03:59.554
seriously injured when
shot by British soldiers.
00:03:59.555 --> 00:04:00.979
Following the [inaudible],
00:04:00.980 --> 00:04:03.304
she took refuge in the
Republic of Ireland.
00:04:03.305 --> 00:04:05.309
She\'s spent 3.5 years in prison.
00:04:05.310 --> 00:04:06.784
Fresh fruits.
00:04:06.785 --> 00:04:10.639
I can\'t carry it all.
00:04:10.640 --> 00:04:13.169
Of course, you will. We\'ll
give you a transport home.
00:04:13.170 --> 00:04:15.179
Exactly, I know.
00:04:15.180 --> 00:04:23.180
I knew that
00:04:23.990 --> 00:04:26.479
there was no evidence
to really to
00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:29.764
convict me on the charge
which was attempted murder,
00:04:29.765 --> 00:04:31.309
a British soldier,
and the comment it
00:04:31.310 --> 00:04:33.994
was me [inaudible] murdered.
00:04:33.995 --> 00:04:36.149
But I knew that there
00:04:36.150 --> 00:04:38.869
was no evidence to
connect me with that.
00:04:38.870 --> 00:04:40.999
Apart from the fact
that we\'d be in there
00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:45.019
and we know that we have
Republican sympathies.
00:04:45.020 --> 00:04:48.319
After the last court
appearance that I made,
00:04:48.320 --> 00:04:50.749
I came out of the court
00:04:50.750 --> 00:04:53.584
and there was a group of
British soldiers there,
00:04:53.585 --> 00:04:55.129
once he had been given evidence,
00:04:55.130 --> 00:04:59.569
and in front of RUC
men, legal people,
00:04:59.570 --> 00:05:02.419
to senior British Army officers,
00:05:02.420 --> 00:05:06.254
two of them threatened
to kill me and said,
00:05:06.255 --> 00:05:09.119
\"We should have finished
her off at the time.
00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:10.799
But we\'ll get her.\" I heard
00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:13.619
another one said, \"Or
we\'ll get her kids.\"
00:05:13.620 --> 00:05:16.454
It\'s 16 years ever
since I left Belfast,
00:05:16.455 --> 00:05:18.029
I can\'t go North,
I don\'t go North.
00:05:18.030 --> 00:05:19.699
I don\'t take a risk because
I think it would be
00:05:19.700 --> 00:05:23.029
crazy to do it.
00:05:23.030 --> 00:05:28.859
After taking this immediate
decision, I got [inaudible].
00:05:28.860 --> 00:05:31.019
But I mean it, there are
times I would love to go,
00:05:31.020 --> 00:05:39.020
we love to go home [inaudible].
00:05:39.960 --> 00:05:42.779
[inaudible] support I
hope no women will be called
00:05:42.780 --> 00:05:48.119
[inaudible] For everyone knows
00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:49.649
that she has brought the North,
00:05:49.650 --> 00:05:51.374
the towers of Lucifer,
00:05:51.375 --> 00:05:57.179
the prosecutor of
people. [inaudible]
00:05:57.180 --> 00:06:00.589
In 1976, Brid Brounlee
was arrested for membership
00:06:00.590 --> 00:06:04.309
of the IRA and for possession
of an incendiary device.
00:06:04.310 --> 00:06:06.514
She spent six years in prison.
00:06:06.515 --> 00:06:08.509
Her husband arrested following
00:06:08.510 --> 00:06:10.489
a shootout between an
IRA commando on the
00:06:10.490 --> 00:06:12.349
policing Liverpool is serving
00:06:12.350 --> 00:06:15.210
a life sentence in
an English prison.
00:06:15.770 --> 00:06:19.240
I joined the IRA after
00:06:19.310 --> 00:06:22.679
my childhood was spent being
00:06:22.680 --> 00:06:24.499
awakened at three
and 4:00 O\'clock
00:06:24.500 --> 00:06:26.019
in the morning by
British soldiers,
00:06:26.020 --> 00:06:28.378
raiding my home, arresting
00:06:28.379 --> 00:06:32.039
various members of my
family, trade my childhood.
00:06:32.040 --> 00:06:33.119
Not less than two years,
00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:34.709
I lost many friends.
00:06:34.710 --> 00:06:36.879
They were murdered by
00:06:36.880 --> 00:06:40.314
the British forces in
the North of Ireland.
00:06:40.315 --> 00:06:45.604
I realized exactly
what was happening
00:06:45.605 --> 00:06:47.869
in my country and decided that I
00:06:47.870 --> 00:06:51.214
should join in the
fight against it.
00:06:51.215 --> 00:06:53.419
Every struggle, of course,
00:06:53.420 --> 00:06:55.429
the people who had
been fade and have
00:06:55.430 --> 00:06:57.799
been portrayed as
terrorists and mad bombers.
00:06:57.800 --> 00:07:01.369
Every way, you want to
knew it\'s been that way,
00:07:01.370 --> 00:07:04.264
and I think that the terrorists
are the British Army.
00:07:04.265 --> 00:07:06.269
They shouldn\'t be here. They are
00:07:06.270 --> 00:07:08.650
in somebody else\'s country.
00:07:10.620 --> 00:07:13.209
What do you feel
about the bombing
00:07:13.210 --> 00:07:14.499
that occurred and its killing
00:07:14.500 --> 00:07:18.920
where several innocent people,
civilians, were killed?
00:07:19.560 --> 00:07:23.000
Horror. Shock.
00:07:28.770 --> 00:07:33.789
Explosives, one of the most
deadly weapons of the IRA,
00:07:33.790 --> 00:07:35.559
but these actions
are aimed mainly
00:07:35.560 --> 00:07:37.254
at British military personnel,
00:07:37.255 --> 00:07:39.834
innocent civilians have
also been victims.
00:07:39.835 --> 00:07:41.259
In this respect, the bombing
00:07:41.260 --> 00:07:42.624
in Enniskillen on November 8th,
00:07:42.625 --> 00:07:46.644
1987 was certainly the IRA\'s
most catastrophic action.
00:07:46.645 --> 00:07:49.029
Eleven civilians killed.
00:07:49.030 --> 00:07:51.779
All of us felt to a
battlefields because it
00:07:51.780 --> 00:07:54.224
was just shooting out of carbon.
00:07:54.225 --> 00:07:56.939
It was the most appalling hour
00:07:56.940 --> 00:08:00.314
of judgment that they made
in a long, long time.
00:08:00.315 --> 00:08:04.359
But the IRA certainly haven\'t got
00:08:04.360 --> 00:08:10.610
the market on atrocities.
00:08:11.130 --> 00:08:14.889
Derry, January 1972,
00:08:14.890 --> 00:08:16.959
British paratroops opened fire.
00:08:16.960 --> 00:08:19.790
14 civilians killed.
00:08:57.810 --> 00:09:05.810
In 1980,
00:09:10.990 --> 00:09:12.579
Brendan Hughes led
that the first hunger
00:09:12.580 --> 00:09:15.324
strike of Nationals
prisoners in Long Kesh.
00:09:15.325 --> 00:09:18.939
This drastic action was provoked
by prison conditions and
00:09:18.940 --> 00:09:20.499
the British government\'s
decision to
00:09:20.500 --> 00:09:22.899
suppress political
prisoners status.
00:09:22.900 --> 00:09:25.089
A 53 day ordeal which
00:09:25.090 --> 00:09:27.219
very well could have
finished with death.
00:09:27.220 --> 00:09:30.234
The second hunger strike
led by Bobby Sands,
00:09:30.235 --> 00:09:33.039
10 Irish nationalists died.
00:09:33.040 --> 00:09:39.020
Michael Devine was the
last on August 20th, 1981.
00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:49.749
There was lasting freedom
00:09:49.750 --> 00:09:50.919
that I can remember
of the hunger strike
00:09:50.920 --> 00:09:52.644
was a feeling of loneliness.
00:09:52.645 --> 00:09:54.939
No matter how many
people are around you.
00:09:54.940 --> 00:09:57.564
There\'s an absolute
feeling of loneliness
00:09:57.565 --> 00:10:00.609
and a feeling of
nowhere else to go.
00:10:00.610 --> 00:10:03.999
You are there, you
have a commitment.
00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:06.294
I was a political prisoner.
00:10:06.295 --> 00:10:09.069
The British were denying
my political rights,
00:10:09.070 --> 00:10:11.709
denying that I was a
political prisoner,
00:10:11.710 --> 00:10:13.239
and triumphed when
they label ed me as
00:10:13.240 --> 00:10:15.789
a terrorist and as a gangster.
00:10:15.790 --> 00:10:17.904
None of us, in the east blocks
00:10:17.905 --> 00:10:20.244
seen ourselves as that.
We were not that.
00:10:20.245 --> 00:10:23.409
What seeped in, there
was a beautiful feeling,
00:10:23.410 --> 00:10:26.870
there was a fantastic
feelings of comradeship.
00:10:34.530 --> 00:10:37.974
The war continues and
00:10:37.975 --> 00:10:41.540
West Belfast remains
a city under siege.
00:10:42.750 --> 00:10:47.679
British military posts and
forts are scattered throughout
00:10:47.680 --> 00:10:51.909
Nationalists neighborhoods
and army helicopters
00:10:51.910 --> 00:10:55.074
hovering above the
city, 24 hours a day.
00:10:55.075 --> 00:10:56.844
Cameras, microphones,
00:10:56.845 --> 00:10:59.484
the most sophisticated
technologies employed.
00:10:59.485 --> 00:11:02.900
All in an effort to seek
out a hidden enemy.
00:11:04.740 --> 00:11:07.809
For us, this is
just the usual for us.
00:11:07.810 --> 00:11:09.069
You know what I mean?
Total harassment.
00:11:09.070 --> 00:11:14.079
A rifle pointed at
our heads is normal.
00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:15.309
Frankly, I\'m just used at
00:11:15.310 --> 00:11:16.429
that because I work use to here.
00:11:16.430 --> 00:11:18.980
I tell you what. I
wouldn\'t be standing here.
00:11:19.890 --> 00:11:23.420
This is fine as far as strong.
00:11:25.800 --> 00:11:28.359
Just two weeks ago,
00:11:28.360 --> 00:11:30.369
there was a woman of the IRA
00:11:30.370 --> 00:11:33.939
[inaudible] Not a
soldier up the top of
00:11:33.940 --> 00:11:37.149
the street that day
at all and worked for
00:11:37.150 --> 00:11:41.570
out of shooting,
demonstrate, sharp soldier.
00:12:35.400 --> 00:12:38.439
My early involvement in
the Republican movement,
00:12:38.440 --> 00:12:40.284
when I heard of a British soldier
00:12:40.285 --> 00:12:42.714
or a noisy one being killed,
00:12:42.715 --> 00:12:44.739
I felt good about it.
00:12:44.740 --> 00:12:46.674
I felt that\'s one
of the enemy away.
00:12:46.675 --> 00:12:49.779
Today, I think I feel sad about
00:12:49.780 --> 00:12:53.049
it because I don\'t
want anyone to die.
00:12:53.050 --> 00:12:55.794
The fact is there is a
war going on an island.
00:12:55.795 --> 00:12:57.384
There are two sides to that war,
00:12:57.385 --> 00:13:00.084
the Irish people and the
British Establishment.
00:13:00.085 --> 00:13:02.829
There is no future in this
country for my children
00:13:02.830 --> 00:13:06.159
until the British are removed.
00:13:06.160 --> 00:13:09.054
Until then and only then,
00:13:09.055 --> 00:13:10.374
I\'ll be happy and only then,
00:13:10.375 --> 00:13:12.500
my children will be happy.
