"The Troubles: A Dublin Story," a gritty and brutal look at a rarely seen piece of Irish history, will premiere on DVD and digital later this month.
Writer-director Luke Hanlon's stark and edgy feature "The Troubles: A Dublin Story" is set to be released on DVD and digital on February 26 from High Fliers Films.
Based on true accounts from those who were there and experienced the bloody battles first hand, this powerful and violent film sheds light on the politics, allegiance and bloodshed of the time.
Set in North Dublin in the 1980s, the film tells the story of Sean (Ray Malone) and Francis (Adam Redmond), two working-class brothers who are far removed from the horrors of The Troubles in Northern Ireland. When they witness the atrocities on television, they’re shocked into action and soon find themselves naively drawn into the complex and dangerous world of the fight.
Together, they must navigate honor, family bonds, loyalty, republicanism and gangsterism as they fuel the brutal Northern war machine – no matter the consequence.
The feature, which premiered at film festivals in 2022, is the debut film of Hanlon, a former windscreen repairman from Dublin and film extra who financed the film solely with his own life savings, according to the Irish Independent.
Hanlon, who wrote and directed "The Troubles, A Dublin Story" over 18 months, began writing as a way to cope with depression.
“I was out of work, no money. I was just at a low point, and someone said, 'you’re good with words. Why don't you try to write something down?’ I always had the idea for this film because I kind of grew up in that world," he told the Irish Independent.
“I always found when I would be looking at films about the IRA, that they were lionized. They were either proud freedom fighters with these high morals or they were portrayed as terrorists. But to me, these were just normal guys. These guys go to work nine to five.
“They were just very, very ordinary. They are not moralistic freedom fighters, nor are they evil terrorists.”
Hanlon said he wanted to draw a connection between seemingly nonviolent acts and eventual terrorist attacks and how many of those who joined “did not understand the implications” of the IRA.
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