A review of the recent film “In The Land Of Saints And Sinners”
The ‘land’ in question is the “forgotten county” of Donegal in the Republic of Ireland and the cinematography is so gorgeous that at times the film looks like an advertisement from the local tourist board.
Although the director is American, the scriptwriter and all of the cast and crew are Irish. Set in 1974 at the height of “the troubles” (I was working in the Northern Ireland Office at the time), it pits a team from the Provisional IRA against a local one-time assassin, so we have the juxtaposition of bloody violence in a beautiful landscape.
It works to a degree, but the main characters are somewhat unbelievable. It is hard to envisage someone played by the ever-watchable and ever-honourable Liam Neeson as an assassin for hire who’s killed so many that he can’t remember the number. And his sudden desire to give it all up and his friendship with the local Gardai are beyond credibility.
Then there’s the leader of the IRA team, a woman (played by Kerry Condon) who is so irredeemably foul-mouthed, aggressive and violent that she’d give Lady Macbeth a run for her money. But the final shoot-out is worth the wait.