Rebel Heart Episode 1 (1/6)

The move towards independence in Ireland, from the 1916 Easter Rising until the 1922 civil war is seen through the eyes of a naive idealistic young man
Ronan Bennett's four part television drama for the BBC and RTE was already controversial before it reached British and Irish television screens. Ulster Unionist leader and leader of the Northern Ireland power sharing government, David Trimble berated the BBC for making the drama at a sensitive time in the far from steady peace process. He claimed the series would be used as a propaganda for modern day Irish republicans, he attacked Bennett's own political convictions and a number of alterations made to actual historical events in the series.

But setting aside the argument over whether it was wise for David Trimble to attack the series before it was even screened, it has to be said 'Rebel Heart' is a bit of a disappointment. Unusually for Bennett (who penned the Robert Carlyle gangster flic FACE and the excellent pre-IRA ceasefire Maze Prison drama, LOVE LIES BLEEDING) it is an uneven work, painted in broad brush strokes.

Compressing six years of Irish history into four episodes, the drama tells the story of Ernie Coyne (James D'Arcy), a young idealistic middle class Dubliner drawn into the 1916 Easter Rising. During the Rising, he falls for a Belfast republican volunteer Ita Feeney (Paloma Baeza) and falls in with working class Dubliners, Kelly (Frank Laverty) and Tom O'Toole (Vincent Regan). His subsequent imprisonment after the Easter Rising and the disapproval of his family does not deter him from joining Michael Collins' bloody guerilla war against the British. His involvement in the IRA takes him to Belfast and Cork but is also intertwined with his romance with Ita. Along the way, he rubs shoulders with real life Irish historical figures like Collins (Brendan Coyle), Eamon de Valera (Andrew Connolly), Padraig Pearse (Frank MacCusker) and James Connolly (Bill Patterson).

So what's the problem? REBEL HEART starts off like Ken Loach's amazing Spanish Civil War drama LAND AND FREEDOM but never really sustains the momentum. One can't help feeling that four episodes are not really sufficient to do this kind of story justice and Bennett should really have been given two more episodes to flesh out his characters, storyline and properly examine a seminal moment in Irish history. The series is beautifully shot and the acting is committed. Special praise should go to Vincent Regan, Frank Laverty and Frank MacCusker. There is also an all too brief cameo from Liam Cunningham who continues to impress on the small or big screen. James D'Arcy is a suitably stiff lead and Paloma Baeza's feisty west Belfast republican (complete with accent) is spot on.

To Bennett's credit, this no dewy eyed, one sided hymn to Irish republicanism. The 1916 Rising is anything but glorious and there is a brutality to not just the Ulster police's massacres but also to Ernie's violence. REBEL HEART is not without its merits. It's just a pity that with a little bit more time it could have been so, so much better.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• rebel
• heart
• ernie
• coyne
• pamela
• bendoza
• irish
• republican
• army
• easter
• rising

[dawnrun911]

Didn't Germany send tons of arms, ammunition and equipment?.

[1798Greenflag1916]

@dawnrun911 Yes to both the Unionists and Republicans

[zhamming]

Thanks for putting this on Youtube. I live in the US, can't get it on DVD. The story is so moving. The Irish rebellion of 1916 is an amazing part of history! Tiocfaidh ar la, indeed.

[Coggy69]

thank you so much! ive been looking for this for years!

[pogmathoin771]

ive been looking for this for bout 10 years!!!

[mickoneill90]

i remember watching this when it was on i was 11 been looking for the dvd up the raa

[MrReded69]

@dawnrun911 The Aud, a German ship, was trying to deliver a load of 20,000 captured Russian rifles and 10 machine guns to the Irish while the Rising was taking place. The IRB,didn't arrange a landing for them and the ship was eventually scuttled to evade capture.There was only 1 million rounds on board which equals 50 bullets per rifle and none for the machine guns.If the ship had landed, the rebels would have been well armed in rifles but not bullets.Only the body count would have increased!

[09stoneheart]

Why would they have still conducted the rising if they knew they were only going to have 1,000-1,400 men and women for it? Were they hoping that the rest of the Volunteers would rise up with them once they took Dublin, or were they truly a die hard minority that felt they had to try to win Ireland's independence regardless of their resources, as legend portrays them?

[AWESOME90002]

Where's Karl Howman and the fat bloke?

[applesweeter]

when they are in flighting, this man still walking relaxingly.

What a funny scene?

[jas2dG]

does anybody know where i can find this on dvd, if not dvd on vhs? been looking for ages but can't seem 2 find it anywhere.

[DrKorn5]

I'm no fan of marxists or any socialists but I've got the respect the ICR for fighting for Ireland

[seosamhdude]

@1798Greenflag1916 and at cost to an arms dealer has no morals like