Kneecap (18)
Directed by Rich Peppiatt

 
“EVERY word of Irish spoken is a bullet fired for Irish freedom” is the recurring mantra of this riotous and uncompromising political comedy drama about the real-life Irish-speaking rap group Kneecap, from Belfast. 
 
The three actual members of the band, Moglai Bap, Mo Chara and DJ Provai, play themselves in Rich Peppiatt’s outstanding and raucous directorial debut feature, which he co-wrote with Bap and Chara and which shows how this anarchic trio became the unlikely figureheads of a civil rights movement to save the Irish language. 
 
While the Welsh and Scots languages have been recognised in law for many years, Irish wasn’t until December 2022. 
 
Set in West Belfast in 2019, childhood best friends (Bap and Chara respectively) Naoise  and Liam Og’s political and musical calling takes off when they meet disillusioned music teacher JJ (DJ Provai) whose other half is fighting a more conventional campaign to legalise the Irish language. 
 
Rapping in their native Irish tongue, the drug-fuelled lads find themselves being pursued by the police, paramilitaries and politicians who they have to overcome in order to get their message across to their growing legion of fans. 
 
In their first ever acting roles Bap, Chara and DJ Provai are naturals and totally compelling, while Michael Fassbender is superb as Naoise’s father, an IRA stalwart who taught his son and his best friend the power of language and culture. Playing dead and on the run from the authorities, Arlo (Fassbender) tells his son: “Every day I am not captured is a psychological victory against the occupiers” (ie the British). He suggests that a memorial service be arranged for the tenth anniversary of his death. “I need something to remind our community that I’m dead, to make it harder for these RUC bastards to keep behaving like I’m alive.”
 
Reminiscent of Trainspotting in its frenetic, fast-paced style, it is full of swearing and graphic drug use but it is also incredibly funny and outrageous, if not for those who are easily offended. It also demonstrates the potency of language and how it can be weaponised to conquer and subjugate people.