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In The Name of the Father
(1993, UK/Ire.)
In director Jim Sheridan's political docudrama and
courtroom biopic about injustice -- the true story of four wrongly-accused,
convicted and imprisoned Irishmen (for 15 years) for an October 5,
1974 IRA plot to bomb a Guildford pub (killing four off-duty British
soldiers and a civilian and wounding many others), who were used
by the government as scapegoats:
- the scene of the explosive terrorist bombing of the
Guildford pub
- the scenes of imprisoned petty thief and ne'er-do-well
Gerry Conlon (Daniel Day-Lewis), framed for the bombing along with
his wrongly-imprisoned father Patrick "Giuseppe" Conlon
(Pete Postlethwaite)
- the scene of agents threatening Gerry that they would
shoot his father "Giuseppe" - in order to get him to confess
- one agent whispered in his ear: "I'm gonna shoot your da....Little
Bridie'll have no daddy. I'm gonna shoot Giuseppe" - Gerry rose
up from his chair and attacked back, yelling: "He's threatening
to shoot my da! He's threatening to kill my da!" as he was restrained
and coerced to sign papers of confession: "He's not gonna harm
your father. Come on, let it all out. Let it all out, all that hatred.
You hate us, don't you, huh? You hate us enough to bomb and maim.
That is the trouble. You let it all out. Come on....I can see it
in your face. I can see all that hatred. So why don't you just let
it off your chest, huh, before it starts to mess up with your mind,
hmm?"; under duress, he signed a statement of guilt
- the sequence of Gerry learning from a priest that
Giuseppe (in custody) passed away an hour earlier: ("Your father
passed away an hour ago"); in honor of Giuseppe, the other prisoners
lit pieces of paper and floated them down from outside their windows
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Patrick "Giuseppe" Conlon (Pete Postlethwaite)
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Gerry's Love For His Father "Giuseppe"
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Burning Pieces of Paper Released
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- the moment in the courtroom, when crusading defense
lawyer Gareth Peirce (Emma Thompson) revealed that she had found
a note attached to a file of police records for Gerry Conlon's
alibi, reading:
"Not to be shown to the Defence"
- the triumphant ending courtroom scene of the overturning
of the verdict and the dismissal of charges against the prisoners,
including Gerry Conlon - his exoneration and release, and his insistent
pronouncement to exit from the front:
"I'm a free man and I'm going out the front door..."
- Gerry's determination to continue the defense of
the innocence of his father "Giuseppe" Conlon who had
died in prison (and was incarcerated with six other Conlon relatives,
known collectively as the Maguire Seven) as he told the courtroom
crowds outside - the film's final words: ("I'm an innocent man.
I spent 15 years in prison for somethin' I didn't do. I watched my
father die in a British prison for somethin' he didn't do. And this
government still says he's guilty. I want to tell them that until
my father is proved innocent, until all the people involved in this
case are proved innocent, until the guilty ones are brought to justice,
I will fight on in the name of my father and of the truth!")
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Terrorist Bombing
Framed Gerry Conlon
Threatening Words
Whispered to Gerry: "I'm gonna shoot your da"
Note Found in File: "Not to be shown to the Defence"
Triumphant Release of Gerry
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