I can’t believe Ireland did it again. After John Carney reinvented the musical with Once 17 years ago, the boys of Kneecap put another new, electrifying spin on the genre this year. While the US is mired in these gaudy productions, Ireland over and over really shows us the true power of music is with real people, in Kneecap’s case, doing real sh*t….and a LOT of drugs.
In west Belfast, Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh and Naoise Ó Cairealláin (playing themselves) are two aimless lads drug dealing to make ends meet. Naoise’s mom Dolores (Simone Kirby) is agoraphobic, lamenting the loss of her husband/Naoise’s father Arlo (Michael Fassbender), a Northern Irish freedom fighter revered by Doyle (Adam Best) and the activist group “Radical Republicans Against Drugs” (RRAD). When a drug bust lands Liam in jail and he only chooses to speak Northern Irish, Detective Ellis (Josie Walker) brings in translator JJ Ó Dochartaigh (also playing himself) to help Liam through the interrogation. JJ instead helps get Liam out…but also finds his book of poetry/lyrics that inspires him to bring out that old mixer from his music making days years earlier.
Kneecap uses the tried and true formula of finding universal through the specific. Director Rich Peppiatt, immediately immerses us in the life of post revolution West Belfast, Northern Island through a Michael Fassbender middle finger to the British forces trying to arrest him. I’ll admit I’ve never seen Belfast in present day in movies before, because frankly the drastic bombings have moved onto different parts of the world. You can feel Liam, Naoise, and JJ are lost, hoping for some sort of purpose outside of drug dealing and teaching through crusty old textbooks. Liam tries to get involved with his girlfriend Caitlin’s (Finnoula Flaherty) political campaign, but the angrier parts of him want to express himself in other ways. As the boys start to make music together, you can see their lives slowly transform, and get bigger than they thought they would ever be. Those drug fueled hip-hop mixes become a hot button issue, as the Northern Irish language becomes part of the UK ballot measures being considered at the time, and Kneecap’s (the band name) shows threaten the “decorum” England likes, potentially unraveling the “save the language” movement. Before you know it, Kneecap finds a new way to pull you into the classic coming of age tale, about finding life’s passion and purpose, and challenging previous generation’s beliefs while standing up for what you believe in.
The reason that messaging lands so well is Kneecap’s “eff you” delivery method. Each of the 3 boys has their own little side stories they’re working in to keep us amused and grounded in their own youthful silliness before giving us something deeper. I particularly loved Liam’s kinky exploits with his girlfriend Georgia (Jessica Reynolds), who use each other to get out their repressed feelings in very funny, devious ways. JJ’s teaching lessons and relationship become way funnier as he slowly transforms into “DJ Próvaí”, trying to keep his alter ego hidden from everyone in recklessly horrible ways. Even the most serious story, Naoise’s pursuit to win the approval of his mom and dad, is couched in a ludicrous quasi gangster plot with RRAD where the boys get their ass kicked when they try to do something cool. These little subplots do a great job forming our 3 leads, getting them ready for the transformation the music is about to do for them, but making us laugh along the way.
The end credits remind you that this story is NOT fictional. These 3 guys are real Northern Irish hip hoppers doing their part to flip the bird to the UK and keep their native tongue relevant in modern society. But my favorite part of Kneecap is if I went up to those guys and told them how cool they were for doing it, they would definitely tell me to “f*ck off” in the most polite way possible, exactly what I would want from an interaction with Liam, Naoise, or JJ.