Nothing Personal

The British/lrish film Nothing Personal is set in Belfast in 1975 during a fragile cease-fire between the Protestants and the IRA. We mostly get to meet assassin-like Protestant terrorists. Ginger, a more and more psychopathic character played by Ian Hart, is becoming difficult for his assassin colleague Kenny and the rest of the loyalists to control. Ginger's erratic and war damaged behavior is becoming a hindrance for the more level-headed leaders' attempts to achieve a settlement with the Catholic enemy. Nothing Personal is a very topical film, not only because of the current attempts to end the bloody terrorist war in Nothern Ireland, but also because it reminds us of Bosnia, Algeria and other centers of conflict where human bestiality seems to know no limit. Which people are responsible for these atrocities? How do their minds work? Aren't even the worst murderers only exploited, pathetic madmen, used by politicaI forces at the top when'' needed'', to later be terminated, like rabid dogs, when they no longer fit into the political intrigues? The young Swede at present in prison in Bosnia, guilty of war crimes, has no doubt personality traits in common with the characters from the 70s street battles in Belfast. Nothing Personal is a bloody film which doesn't hesitate to show the brutal nature of violence. We also get to meet the people, children and adults, who refuse to take part in this insanity but who are still affected by the sickness spread by the terrorists/gangsters. The film offers excellent acting and has a varied and absorbing tempo. The everyday chatter in the pub is skillfully contrasted with the violent eruptions during the political showdowns. One minute the characters are talking about girls and swigging beer to typical 70s music and then a moment later- in the same cheerful spirit - beating, murdering and kneecapping people to achieve their diffuse political goals. Or perhaps they are only playing the tough guy to impress the local youngsters. The London based Irish director Thaddeus O'Sullivan has gone to great lengths to re-create the spirit of the 70s both with regard to milieu and clothes. This is however a timeless story and a film worth seeing about a subject which is unfortunately still nauseously topical. GL