(1992) Among my favorite films for the emotional impact - wistful cinema with unexpected events - both the story (written and directed by Neil Jordan) and soundtrack (music by Anne Dudley) have on me, evoking a response similar to Truffaut's Shoot the Piano Player.

At a carnival in Belfast, Jody (Forest Whitaker), a British soldier, is baited by blonde Jude (Miranda Richardson) into a trap and taken hostage by a gang of the IRA. Held for three days while the Irish terrorists negotiate for an exchange of prisoners, Jody ("they're not gonna let that guy out .. you're gonna have to kill me") gains the sympathy of Fergus (Stephen Rea).

When Jody needs to urinate, Fergus, having taken the canvas sack off the soldier's head, then, unwilling to untie tie the hands, has to take hold of the man's penis for him: "It's only a piece of meat."

There are only two types of people, Jody tells Fergus, demonstrating the difference in narrating the tragic tale of the scorpion and the frog crossing the river together. "I can't help it," says the scorpion, after stinging the frog in midstream: "It's in my nature."

Asked what he believes in, Fergus answers: "That you shouldn't be here." Sharing a photograph of his attractive girlfriend Dil (Jaye Davidson) with Fergus, Jody asks his kind captor (admitting he's not good for much) - unlike Peter the leader and the others - to find her for him afterward in Spittalfields.

Across the water in England, carrying Jody's wallet with the photo, Fergus invents the identity of a Scotsman named Jimmy. He locates Millie's hair salon, gets a trim from Dil, and follows her to the Metro, where the barkeep Col (Jim Broadbent) becomes the middleman to their disjointed conversation. Sardonic - cool and detached - she finds Jimmy to be "quaint and old-fashioned." "Who knows the secrets of the human heart?" says the barman of Dil.

Tossing crude Dave off in favor of Jimmy the gentleman ("I want to look after you"), she (needy of human kindness) brings him up to her flat where he sees Jody's photos and clothing on display. Neither a tart nor a lady, Dil says to Jimmy: "You did know, didn't you?" Afterward she suggests: "You can always pretend."

Then Jude reappears - "So what did happen?" - with Peter, needing a Mister Nobody to perform a job, with the threat of going after his girlfriend if he screws up.

In the special features on the DVD (Collector's Edition) is the original but inferior alternative ending. When I first saw the movie, I was in Bahrain where Muslim censors edit out nudity and sexual acts, so I missed the explicit, most controversial portion of the picture the first time around.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2009 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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