In the Name of the Father (1993) on Netflix
R19932h 13mBiographyDramaHistory
Gerry Conlon is chased by British forces who mistake the Belfast thief for an IRA sniper. His father Giuseppe sends him to London, and police charge him over the Guildford pub bombing.
- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb8.1/10204,800 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes94%
Trailer
Plot summary
British forces in Belfast take Gerry Conlon for an IRA sniper and chase him until a riot breaks out. His father Giuseppe, hoping to prevent an IRA reprisal against him, packs him off to London. There he takes drugs in a park with Paul Hill and Charlie Burke, a homeless Irishman, when a bomb goes off in Guildford, leaving four off-duty soldiers and one civilian dead and sixty-five people hurt. Back in Belfast, the British Army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary charge Gerry with terrorism. Flown to England, he is held with Paul and two other men. Interrogators threaten to kill Giuseppe, and Gerry signs a forced confession. Police also arrest Giuseppe and other members of the Conlon family.
Cast
- Alison Crosbieas Girl in Pub
- Nye Heronas IRA Man 1
- Paul Warrineras Soldier
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about In the Name of the Father (1993)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- To prepare as Gerry Conlon, Daniel Day-Lewis lost over 23 kilograms and spent three days and nights in a jail cell, kept awake by men banging on the door every ten minutes with tin cups, then interrogated by three teams of real Special Branch officers for nine hours.
- In a 1994 radio interview Anne Maguire, imprisoned with her husband, brother and two young sons because of false confessions by her nephew Gerry Conlon and Paul Hill, revealed her lingering anger at the pair and her dismay that the film depicted Conlon as a hero.
- Daniel Day-Lewis stayed in character off camera as well, keeping his Belfast accent on and off set and insisting that crew members throw cold water at him and verbally abuse him.
- The film was the second highest-grossing release ever in Ireland, behind Jurassic Park, and the highest-grossing Irish film, beating the record set by The Commitments in 1991 with a gross of 2.91 million Irish pounds.
- The real perpetrators of the Guildford pub bombings were the IRA's Balcombe Street Gang, who admitted to the Guildford and Woolwich bombings during their trials, rather than the film's fictional character Joe McAndrew.
- Jim Sheridan defended his choices in 2003, saying: "I was accused of lying in In the Name of the Father, but the real lie was saying it was a film about the Guildford Four when really it was about a non-violent parent."
