Irish Film Institute -International Film Directory – Film Listing

In the Name of the Father

    • Director

      Jim Sheridan

    • Credits

      Producers: Jim Sheridan, Arthur Lappin. Writers: Jim Sheridan, Terry George, Gerry Conlon

    • Principal Cast

      Daniel Day-Lewis, Emma Thompson, Pete Postlethwaite

  • Category

    Feature
    Classic

Drawn from real-life individuals and events, In the Name of the Father continued Sheridan’s collaborations with Daniel Day-Lewis in this re-enactment of the miscarriage of justice that led to the Guildford Four being wrongly imprisoned for the pub bombings of October 1974. Day-Lewis plays Gerry Conlon, Pete Postlethwaite is his father, Giuseppe, and much of the film’s strength lies in the interplay between these two actors as the younger Conlon gradually realises that he must take control of his life if justice is to be achieved. The British media responded with outrage to the film and particularly to national treasure Emma Thompson’s role in it as crusading lawyer Gareth Peirce. Nominated for seven Academy Awards, Sheridan was unlucky to lose out in all categories in the year of Schindler’s List.

Notes by Ruth Barton.
 
Awards:
Golden Bear Award winner at the 44th Berlin International Film Festival 1994

133 minutes, Ireland/United Kingdom/United States, 1993, Colour

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