Hidden Agenda (1990 film)
| Hidden Agenda | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Ken Loach |
| Produced by | Eric Fellner |
| Written by | Jim Allen |
| Starring | Frances McDormand Brian Cox Brad Dourif Maurice Roëves |
| Music by | Stewart Copeland |
| Cinematography | Clive Tickner |
| Editing by | Jonathan Morris |
| Distributed by | Hemdale Film Corporation |
| Release date(s) | November 21, 1990 |
| Running time | 108 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Hidden Agenda (1990), directed by Ken Loach, is a political thriller about British state terrorism during the Northern Irish Troubles that includes the assassination of an American civil rights lawyer.
Contents |
Plot [edit]
Investigator Peter Kerrigan (Cox), assisted by Ingrid Jessner (McDormand), investigates the killing of Paul Sullivan (Dourif), an American civil rights lawyer and political activist in Northern Ireland, whilst he was accompanied by a Provisional Irish Republican Army sympathiser. The investigation reveals that the two men were shot without warning. A mysterious tape recording surfaces, made by a Captain Harris, an ex-army intelligence officer, now in hiding, of senior military leaders and Conservative party politicians discussing how they arranged the rise to power of Margaret Thatcher. Eventually, Harris gives a copy of the tape to Jessner, but British security forces kill Harris, and blame his death on the IRA. Kerrigan is blackmailed into silence about the conspiracy. Jessner still has the tape, but without Harris to authenticate it, the recording can be dismissed as a forgery.
Cast [edit]
- Frances McDormand – Ingrid Jessner
- Brian Cox – Peter Kerrigan
- Brad Dourif – Paul Sullivan
- Maurice Roëves – Captain Harris
- Ian McElhinney – Jack Cunningham
Production [edit]
The production was originally set up at Columbia Pictures in 1987, when David Puttnam ran the studio, however when Puttnam was ousted, Loach had to find new financial backing, and eventually found it with John Daly who ran Hemdale Film Corporation.[1]
Reception [edit]
Hidden Agenda was criticised for a simplistic view of the Northern Ireland Troubles as an anti-colonial war. The story also was criticised for portraying the Troubles as adjunct British politics, rather than as Irish politics.[2] Despite this, it holds a positive rating of 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Awards [edit]
Hidden Agenda won the Jury Prize at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival[3] and was nominated for Best European Film at the Goya Awards. At the Festival press conference, the Northern-Irish critic Alexander Walker publicly denounced the film as IRA propaganda.[4]
References [edit]
- ^ "Ken Loach's Agenda Is to Rile the British Establishment : Movies: The activist director, relatively inactive during the Thatcher years, tackles the issue of Northern Ireland in 'Hidden Agenda.'".
- ^ Shooting to Kill: Filmmaking and the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland, Brian M’llroy, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, 1998 pp. 93–95, 97–98.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Daddy Nostalgia". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
- ^ Walker, Alexander. Icons in the Fire (London, 2004) pp. 131–132.
External links [edit]
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jesus of Montreal |
Jury Prize, Cannes 1990 |
Succeeded by Europa tied with Hors la vie |
