working class English conscript
played by Barry Keoghan, who
bravely takes a stand when he
learns the true horrors of the
famine and its causes.
In the years since Ireland was
granted independence, the
Irish have come to learn that
their own ruling classes are no
different than the British who
handed over the keys, and that
the struggle wasn’t between
cultures or creeds, but between
classes. In his film’s most striking
moment, Daly has Feeney grip
two men of the cloth by their
respective collars, one a Prot-
estant minister offering soup in
exchange for conversion, the
other a Roman Catholic priest
encouraging his parishioners to
starve rather than convert. Had
Feeney known one would even-
tually hand over power to the
other, transferring Irish rule from
London to the Vatican, he may
well have squeezed their wind-
pipes a little harder. w
Black 47
3 ½ stars out of 5
Directed by: Lance Daly
Starring: Hugo Weaving, James
Frecheville, Stephen Rea, Freddie Fox,
Barry Keoghan, Moe Dunford, Sarah
Greene, Jim Broadbent
NJ STAGE - ISSUE 51
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