Film Reviews

H3

• Rating:
• Director: Les Blair
• Starring: Brendan Mackey
• Details: Ire/ 90 mins / (18).

Absorbing drama based on the events surrounding the 1981 hunger strikes in the Maze Prison where a group of disgruntled Irish Republican inmates mount a mass protest to highlight their grievances at their treatment at the hands of the British government. Although the filmmakers may claim they were simply documenting a real life event, the politics of H3 are Republican-leaning, a stance that will undoubtedly alienate large sections of the audience. Yet in the light of recent prison dramas like Lucky Break, the hauntingly shot H3 is undoubtedly a more authentic document of what life is really like on the inside. In equal measures, brutal and frightening, H3, despite faults with character development and pacing, is a worthy effort - even if you don't necessarily agree with the character's motivations and actions.

Review by Garreth Murphy