Kneecap Movie Review

The Irish people are very proud of their country, and if you don’t know that, after watching this extremely uncommon film, you will. As soon as “Kneecap” begins, director Rick Peppiatt hardly gives you time to catch your breath. ​

It premiered at Sundance and easily grabbed everyone’s attention with its furious editing. Isn’t that the way you want your movies about music, especially rap, to be? Not that “Kneecap” is only about rap, but the urban genre of music being used works to tell the story in several ways. They can rap, but it’ll be done their way.

It’s set in Belfast where two young men from North Ireland, Naoise (Móglaí Bap) and Liam Og (Mo Chara) want a career in hip-hop and to defend their native tongue at the same time. They’re passionate about this long-time desire because it was ingrained in them from childhood. They want to pass on the message that their proud language should remain authentic rather than adopting English as the traditional voice of the country. They rap in what they consider to be the proper language. Because of that, a civil rights movement begins to save it. This movie is hilarious and such an honorable story.

A much-needed teacher/translator joins the pair and they become a successful trio. His name is JJ Ó Dochartaigh (who goes by the name DJ Próvai). He’s an ordinary high school teacher whose festive attitude towards life, and sudden pivot to miserable, makes the film much more extraordinary. He has always liked music, but that fact isn’t something he shouts from the rooftops. Joining this pair, though he loves their work, and remixing it to be better than they could imagine, he still isn’t letting people know he’s a part of “Kneecap.” He wears a knit cap over his face. All he wants is to make sure people know that they’re attempting to be culturally significant.

Michael Fassbender’s, Arló Ó Cairealláin, (father of rapper Naoise) made sure the boys knew what was important about their country. I liked Arló’s character when he was there. Sadly, his Irish Republican Army storyline has him fake his own death and disappear. He wasn’t used enough, but with who he’s playing, it’s a necessary evil.
Throughout the film, you’ll see violence, drug use, and many run-ins with the “Peelers,” which is Irish slang term for police officers. Kneecap, for the most part, feels very indie, making watching it a really good time.

Since the theme is the Irish language, I looked on Wikipedia to find out what their language was originally called. This is what I found:
The Irish language (Irish: an Ghaeilge), or Gaelic, is a native language of the island of Ireland. It was spoken predominantly throughout what is now Northern Ireland before the Ulster Plantations in the 17th century and most place names in Northern Ireland are anglicized versions of a Gaelic name. Today, the language is associated with Irish nationalism (and thus with the Catholic community). However, in the 19th century, the language was seen as a common heritage, with Ulster Protestants playing a leading role in the Gaelic revival.

This is a super fun movie. It’s about a real band, but it’s not their real story. The main guys are using adapted names but are basically playing. Confusing? It won’t be when you watch. I liked what these men were fighting for, and the difficulties they faced. My biggest issue I had was Peppiatt’s direction in that it’s hard to catch the name of a character, the subtitles go by way too fast, and the Irish accents are so tremendously thick. But it’ s hard to complain about authenticity when that’s what the movie is selling in the first place. Having constant subtitles on may help you better understand the story as a whole so I recommend streaming.