A forgotten hero of the twentieth century

In January of 1922, after more than seven centuries of brutal occupation, the British Empire withdrew from Ireland. The rebellion which finally forced the British to grant Irish independence was largely the work of one man: Michael Collins. Brilliant, charismatic, ruthless when he had to be, yet essentially compassionate and humane, Collins embodied the best qualities of the Irish nation; his untimely death in August 1922 was a tragic loss for Ireland and the world.

The movie tells the story of Collins's short, spectacular career as soldier and statesman, from the Easter Rising of 1916 to the Irish Civil War in which he was killed. Liam Neeson's portrayal of Collins is perhaps his finest performance since "Schindler's List." He captures all the qualities that made Collins a hero: his passion, charm, dauntless courage, and his deep concern for the welfare of the men who served under him and the Irish people generally. The other major players, all of whom turn in excellent performances, include Aidan Quinn as Collins's best friend, Harry Boland; Alan Rickman as Eamon De Valera, the canny politician who led the Irish provisional government; and Julia Roberts as Kitty Kiernan, the young woman both Collins and Boland loved (she ultimately became engaged to Collins, only to lose him to a sniper's bullet shortly before they were to be married). Two of the supporting cast are also particularly noteworthy: Stephen Rea as the detective and double agent Ned Broy, who provided Collins with inside information about the movements of the Royal Irish Constabulary; and Charles Dance as the cold-blooded British secret service agent Soames.

The movie opens with the defeat of the Easter Rising and the execution of most of the ringleaders--a terrible mistake on the part of the British, as it turned them into martyrs and led to a far larger rebellion (most of the country had not supported the initial uprising). Collins was imprisoned for several months after the Easter Rising, along with most of the other rank-and-file fighters who fought in it; following his release, he traveled around Ireland making speeches in support of the Republic, and organizing a guerilla army which raided police and army barracks, ambushed military convoys, and generally made it very difficult for the British to govern Ireland. It was in Dublin, however, that his most ruthlessly effective strategy was played out: a systematic campaign of assassination directed against the Royal Irish Constabulary. In response, the British government sent in a large auxiliary force of veterans of the recently ended World War to support the RIC. Called "Black and Tans" for the color of their uniforms, the auxiliaries responded to Collins's guerilla tactics by taking vicious reprisals against the civilian population.

In the early hours of November 21, 1920, Collins's fighters raided inns and boarding houses throughout Dublin, killing Soames and 19 other British agents--a scene in the movie reminiscent of the montage of assassinations at the end of "The Godfather." That afternoon, a Black and Tan armored vehicle rolled into the middle of a soccer match at Croke Park and opened fire on the crowd with its machine guns, in a massacre that came to be known as "Bloody Sunday."

Finally, fed up with the unwinnable conflict, the British agreed to a truce. Collins was sent to England, over his objection that he was a soldier rather than a politician, to negotiate a permanent treaty. Unfortunately, he was unable to obtain all the concessions De Valera and the other leaders back in Ireland wanted. The treaty he signed made Ireland a "Free State" rather than a Republic; it could have its own government, but it must still swear allegiance to the British crown. In addition, the six majority-protestant counties of Ulster were not to be included in the Free State, but would remain a part of the United Kingdom. Knowing that the only alternative was to go back to war, and that his Irish Republican Army was battle-weary and nearly out of ammunition, Collins reluctantly accepted the treaty. The Dail (Irish Parliament) ratified it by a small margin, but De Valera and many of his supporters, including Harry Boland, refused to accept the result; even when it was confirmed by a landslide vote in a popular referendum, they maintained that a vote against the very existence of the Republic could not be legitimate. Thus began the Irish Civil War. The anti-treaty faction seized control of the Four Courts, a major government center in Dublin, and Collins's Free State forces, newly equipped with British artillery and under pressure from Britain to resolve the conflict, shelled them into submission. To Collins's great sorrow, Boland was killed in the fighting--a loss made all the more painful by the rumor that his last words had been, "Have they got Mick Collins yet?"

Determined to end the bloodshed, Collins set out for West Cork, the region where he had been born, hoping to negotiate with De Valera, who was in hiding there. Before leaving he promised Kitty that they would be married on his return. His convoy was ambushed by the anti-treaty forces on a country road in Bealnablath, the Valley of Blossoms; in the course of the fight he received a fatal gunshot wound to the head. The movie's final sequence is devastating: the scene cuts back and forth between the ambush at Bealnablath, and Kitty Kiernan in Dublin, shopping for the wedding dress she will never wear. After watching it three times I still have trouble seeing the screen through my tears.

The movie's emotional impact is aided by its excellent soundtrack, particularly the traditional ballad "She Moved Through The Fair" which Kitty sings the first night Collins and Boland stay at her rooming house, and which plays in the background during that last sequence, and the delicate melody of "Kitty's Waltz," various versions of which are heard throughout the film.

In sum, I would recommend "Michael Collins" to anybody who's interested in history, or who simply likes a good, dramatic story. Fans of "Braveheart," in particular, might find interesting parallels between Collins and William Wallace, despite the centuries that separated their respective wars against English imperialism. Also, to those who have enjoyed this movie I would recommend Andrew M. Greeley's novel "Irish Gold" (which I have also reviewed here), which presents an intriguing, if rather unlikely, conspiracy theory about Collins's death.