The Journey (2017)

Review

94min

Genre:       Fact-based, Drama

Director:    Nick Hamm

Cast:         Timothy Spall, Colm Meaney, Freddie Highmore…and more

Writer:      Colin Bateman

-Synopsis-

A road trip drama account of the historical 2006 meeting between the two intractable figures who came to define the struggle for peace in Northern Ireland; Democratic Unionist leader Ian Paisley and Sinn Féin politico Martin McGuinness, whose first meaningful dialogue eventually led to devolution and power-sharing agreements in a country stained by decades of bloody conflict.

The last few decades of British and Irish cinema have brought no shortage of films about the troubling recent history of Northern Ireland, telling human stories of tragedy and suffering fuelled by seemingly unending hatred and resentment. Now Belfast-born director Nick Hamm adds his chapter to the cinematic book on ‘The Troubles’ with a fictionalised (but historically based) personal tale about the two figures who most represented the struggle, and whose actions proved to be the final steps on the long road to peace for a country scarred by sectarian conflict.

Timothy Spall stars as Ulster unionist leader, staunch British loyalist and conservative protestant minister Dr. Ian Paisley, forced by circumstance to take a car ride across Scotland with his mortal enemy Martin McGuinness (Colm Meaney), the Catholic former IRA commander turned elected Irish republican politician—two of Northern Ireland’s most influential men who had not previously had a single real conversation. Stuck together with their young driver (Freddie Highmore)—whose duties are more complicated than they seem—these two cultural giants try to break through decades of resentment and their difficult personalities towards a potential peace, as the British government and Tony Blair himself (Toby Stephens) are determined to pull the strings necessary to make it happen.

‘The Journey’ is essentially a specific hypothetical story set in the context of the very real events of the 2006 ‘St Andrews Agreement’, a series of meetings between the two sides of the dispute and the British government which became the last steps in the Northern Ireland peace process, ultimately ending the armed conflict and devolving power to the Northern Irish—who went on to elect Paisley and McGuinness as First Minister and deputy First Minister of their country. And that’s what this film is, a ‘what if?’ road trip which illustrates what could have been the planting of the seeds for peace—when two diametrically opposed and complex individuals butted heads and sacrificed ideology for the greater good, resulting in one of the unlikeliest friendships in recent political history.

Despite the very serious subject matter, ‘The Journey’ is a British indie flick with quirks and no small measure of humour, mostly derived from the clash of the two strong characters but with Toby Stephens’s characterisation of Tony Blair providing the most comedic fodder—as the actor captures the Prime Minister’s at-one-time endearing quirks, while lampooning his malleable character and his core as a true politician. But it’s all balanced out by the pathos that comes when Paisley and McGuinness begin to open up and air deeply-held personal and collective grievances—about the violence and carnage employed by the republicans for their cause, and about Paisley and his side’s refusal to recognise the concerns of Northern Ireland’s other half.

Having already proven himself to be one of the finest British actors working today, Timothy Spall physically transforms himself to play the eighty year-old Paisley, capturing his mannerisms and delivering a performance which reflects his grandstanding public persona while betraying the person hidden beneath it—but also captures the deeply-held religious convictions which formed his character but proved a roadblock to peace, after all he was an extremist himself . . . albeit a non-violent one. Meanwhile Colm Meaney also shines in a more subtle performance as McGuinness, a personification of “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”, seemingly repentant but unapologetic about his past and eager to compromise for peace . . . while trying to shift an immovable object to do so.

This is by no means the most insightful, compelling or moving film set within the Northern Irish conflict which you’ve seen or are likely to see, although it might be the most light-hearted . . . for better or worse. It was always going to be a tough task to condense decades of sectarian violence, guerrilla resistance, pseudo-civil war and political turmoil—also rather inappropriately and quaintly know as ‘The Troubles’—into a 90 minute road trip comedy/drama with an odd-couple element, and no doubt Hamm & co. will be criticised for somehow sanitising recent history or paying inappropriate lip service to it.

Yet ‘The Journey’ never postures as a profound statement about a difficult, centuries-old Anglo-Irish relationship and its more recent dimensions. This a deliberate personality piece about the two main players who came to define the conflict, and more importantly came together to end it in the most unlikely of circumstances, cultivating a once unimaginable relationship which would endure until Paisley’s death in 2014. Hamm effectively uses the humour and pathos to humanise these two individuals who sacrificed popularity, pride and years of poisonous resentment for the only mature and sane path for the country—and as a result we get an entertaining and moving little drama, wrapped in a recent history lesson and a message of hope for those trapped by seemingly unending conflict.

The Bottom Line . . .

Part political drama, part road dramedy and part classic ‘odd couple’ clash-of-characters, but set in a deadly serious real world historical context, Nick Hamm’s blend of themes is curious but captivating thanks to the performances of his two leads. ‘The Journey’ may not be the most poignant or profound mediation on ‘The Troubles in Northern Ireland, but it’s an intriguing and entertaining character profile of two entrenched political titans who took the unlikeliest of steps towards peace—setting an example for a wider world which needs one . . . now more than ever.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Hunger (2008)

Set in the early 1980’s and Based on real events during ‘The Troubles’ in Northern Ireland, a drama following the story of Provisional IRA member and self-declared Political Prisoner Bobby Sands—who following years of oppression—inspired a mass hunger strike by imprisoned republicans that had historical consequences for a difficult Anglo-Irish relationship.

Directed by Steve McQueen and starring Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham and Stuart Graham among others.

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