Friday, 22 November 2024

VOD: Kneecap (dir: Rich Peppiatt, 2024)

"The Troubles?  I'VE got f**king troubles!"

This fictionalised account of a pair of Belfast rappers who become the unlikely champions of their native language was a big Sundance audience favourite, and it is easy to see why.  Setting out its stall right at the start to represent Northern Ireland away from its filmic stereotype, it opens with an energetic rave-and-drugs sequence (that is also nicely humorous), which gives way to a  DJ-ing Irish-language teacher placed in the orbit of the hip-hop-loving youngsters, with their collaborations blowing up via gigging and social media and attracting attention both welcome and unwelcome with their pro-drugs/anti-British sentiments.  In spite of heavyweight themes of political freedom, culture under threat, family and disenfranchised youth as well as the divisions that still pervade, the film is warm-hearted, funny, dynamic and well-made and the leads - playing themselves - are immensely engaging.
 

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