Jack O'Connell gives chase to an armed young boy in '71. Image: Warp Films.
Beyond telling a story of survival, the movie’s dominant theme is war's impact on children. Starring Jack O’Connell, ‘71 is about a British soldier separated from his unit during a riot in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The movie takes place during a period known as the Troubles – a 30-year conflict in Northern Ireland that left 3,600 people dead, according to the BBC.
Throughout the movie -- peppered with car bombs and street fights -- small children pop up consistently and maddeningly in harm’s way. Even O’Connell (known to American audiences as the central character in Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken) looks to be little more than an overgrown teen -- as do several of the Irish Republican Army gunmen.
But in reality, how bad was 1971 in Belfast? To get a sense, here is a sample of news from that year:
- Jan. 17, 1971 -- The Los Angeles Times reported that rioters tossed stones and fired “steel-tipped shafts from crossbows” at British troops in Belfast. Soldiers retaliated, firing rubber bullets.
- Feb. 6, 1971 -- One soldier and two civilians were shot to death as snipers attacked British troops, according to UPI. The news service reported that five soldiers were wounded and seven bombs exploded overnight in Belfast.
- Feb. 9, 1971 --Furious about the death of a 5-year-old girl who was run over by a British Army car, Belfast residents set fire to vehicles and attacked British soldiers, the Associated Press reported. One day later, Reuters reported that a land mine exploded, killing five men on a mountain road, including two engineers from the BBC.
- Feb. 28, 1971 -- The Boston Globe reported that British troops in Belfast backed by armored cars launched a house-by-house search for suspects who gunned down and killed two unarmed policemen.
- March 14, 1971 -- A psychiatrist interviewed by The New York Times said that Belfast children on both sides of the dispute were deeply disturbed by the violence. The article described fainting spells, recurrent nightmares and epileptic fits.
- Aug. 12, 1971 -- The Washington Post reported 22 dead in Belfast after three days of gun battles.
- Oct. 5, 1971 -- A bomb attack ended the life of a British soldier and injured eight others in Belfast, according to the Chicago Tribune.
- Nov. 9, 1971 -- More than 20 explosions rattled Belfast, including a heavy blast at a shopping center, the Associated Press reported.
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