Some Mother's Son

Director: Terry George Terry George

Overview

A 1981 hunger strike in a Belfast prison is the historical inspiration for the drama Some Mother's Son, which attempts to focus on the personal dimensions of the event through its portrayal of the families of the striking prisoners. Directed by Terry George, co-author of In the Name of the Father, the film is anchored by Helen Mirren's performance as Kathleen Quigley, an educated, thoughtful schoolteacher who feels the Irish-English conflict is remote from her life until her son is arrested for his involvement with the Irish Republican Army. Yet while she supports her son and works to save his life, Kathleen nevertheless maintains her disdain for violence. This is in great contrast to Annie Higgins, the mother of Gerard's collaborator, who wholeheartedly embraces the IRA's mission. Despite their differing philosophies, the women form an uneasy bond over the suffering of their imprisoned sons. Kathleen finds herself increasingly politicized but finds herself facing a moral dilemma when the prisoners begin a hunger strike. As Gerard's next of kin, it is her right to agree to intravenous feeding should her son enter a coma; however, many people, including Annie, would see such as an act as betrayal of the strike, leaving Kathleen with a choice between saving her son's life and respecting his cause.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/06/2011
UPC:	0883316328569
Original Release:	1996
Rating:	R
Source:	Warner Archives
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:52:00

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Helen Mirren	Kathleen Quigley
Fionnula Flanagan	Annie Higgins
Aidan Gillen	Gerard Quigley
David O'Hara	Frank Higgins
Tim Woodward	Harrington
Tom Hollander	Farnsworth
Ciaran Hinds	Danny Boyle
Gerard McSorley	Father Daly
Geraldine O'Rawe	Alice Quigley
Dan Gordon	Inspector McPeake
Grainne Delany	Theresa Higgins
Ciaran Fitzgerald	Liam Quigley
Robert Lang	Government Minister
Stephen Hogan	Young Turk,British Captain
Peter Howitt	SAS Leader
Jimmy Keogh	Jimmy Higgins,Mother Superior
John Kavanagh	Cardinal
Oliver Maguire	Frank Maguire
Anna Megan	Rosie Quigley
Hugh O'Donnell	Paddy
John Higgins	John Deegan,Prisoner's Sister
Joan Sheehy	1st Woman Searcher
Mal Whyte	Barrister
Alan Barry	Judge
Barry Cassin	Prosecutor
Brian Mallon	Prison Office Jones
Sean Lawlor	Platoon Leader
Michael Sherrie	Assistant Governor
James Hickey	Young Son
Karen Carlisle	Prisoner's Girlfriend
Jer O'Leary	Hunger Striker
Tim McDonnell	Hunger Striker
Tony Flynn	Cyclist
Liam Byrne	Prisoner Murphy
Pat Mulryan	1st IRA Man
Valerie Roe	Girl in Farnsworth's Office
Deirdre McAliskey	Woman in Court
Michael S. O'Sullivan	Prison Office David
Jennifer Gibney	2nd Woman Searcher
Robert Taylor	Election Agent
Kate Perry	Prison Officer's Widow
Anthony Brophy	Prisoner's Leader
Mickey McEneaney	Merry Mac Member,Merry Mac Member
Gene Berrills	Merry Mac Member
Ronan O'Donoghue	Radio Announcer
Richard Neilson	Radio Announcer
John Lynch	Actor
Bill Whelan	Composer

Technical Credits

Terry George

Jim Sheridan

Terry George	Director,Screenwriter
Jim Sheridan	Screenwriter,Producer
Ed Burke	Producer
Arthur Lappin	Producer
Nuala Moiselle	Casting
Rod Stoneman	Executive Producer
Edward Burke	Producer
Brian Simmons	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Some Mother's Son is a fictional account of the 1981 Irish prison hunger strikes that took the life of Bobby Sands. The film is much more than a retelling of this turbulent time in Ireland's history, however; it gains substantial weight from director Terry George's creation of a world where two women try to reconcile their motherhood with their political identities. Irish suffering at the hands of the English is a story that has been better written and better directed in past movies (such as In the Name of the Father), but there are few war movies that show the anguish of mothers as this one does or that demonstrate the inseparability of war and politics from people's daily lives. Regardless of the side they fight for, every soldier is "some mother's son." This is remarkably illustrated by Helen Mirren's pacifist schoolteacher, who is unaware her son is fighting with the IRA and must come to terms with the fact that he may die for his ideals. Fionnula Flanagan, meanwhile, plays the mother of another IRA prisoner who has also joined the hunger strike: pro-Ireland all the way, she accepts her son's right to die for his political ideals. Although the women come from diverse economic and political backgrounds, their sorrow unites them, and the portrayals by Mirren and Flanagan are utterly engaging, making the sorrow a mother feels during wartime both real and personal.