NAOISE Ó CAIREALLÁIN as Móglaí Bap or Naoise in ‘Kneecap’(HELEN SLOAN SMPSP | Helen Sloan. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — All we need to do is keep talking.
Synopsis
Starring the actual band members as themselves, Kneecap tells the story of JJ “DJ Próvai” Ó Dochartaigh, a disillusioned music teacher who ends up crossing paths with delinquent drug dealers Liam Óg “Mo Chara” Ó Hannaidh and Naoise “Móglaí Bap” Ó Cairealláin.
Turns out, Mo Chara and Móglaí Bap have an incredible penchant for rapping, which DJ Próvai immediately notices. Using his musical equipment and expertise, he teams up with the two rappers to be their DJ and create beats for them.
Forming the hip hop trio known as Kneecap, the three begin taking the underground music scene in Belfast by storm with their politically charged lyrics. Unfortunately, this draws negative attention from the Irish authorities and political vigilante groups who want to bring them down at all costs.
My thoughts
Until I first heard of this film, I had no idea who the group Kneecap was. It’s no surprise. I’m not too well versed in the hip hop scene, especially when it’s all the way over in Ireland. They definitely have their dedicated fanbase, but it seemed odd that a group like this would get a biopic this early into their career.
One distinct thing that sets Kneecap apart from other musician biopics is that it actually stars the members of the band themselves. This isn’t like Eminem in 8 Mile where they’re playing a fictionalized version of themselves, but this is supposed to actually them and their (mostly true, according to the tagline) story.
However, these three blokes have never acted before. Sure, they’re literally playing themselves, but it’s a big risk to have three people who have never acted lead your film. Combine that with writer-director Rich Peppiatt making his feature film debut, there was a lot that could have gone wrong.
Keeping it real
Surprisingly, such as the story of Kneecap themselves, their film is a rousing success. From the first scene to the last, Peppiatt tells the trio’s story with bounds of hilarious creativity and energy. It helps that the trio actually helped him write the story, giving the film a distinct voice that felt uniquely… them.
You would think that a biopic written by and starring the band itself would be a huge ego-tripping vanity party, but Kneecap presents the group’s story without any sort of narcissism. You can tell there are some exaggerations at play, especially at the end when things become more “movie-ish”, but there’s an incredibly genuine story being told here.
I think what really solidifies it is that Kneecap don’t seem like egotistical people at all. They realize that they all have talent and luck that brought them together to create this group, and while they may not be the most upstanding or polite citizens, they have genuine passion for real issues.
It’s clear that the group believes that the music and the content within is far more important and impactful than they are themselves. The fame and success is great and all, but what they really care about is keeping the Irish culture, identity, and language alive.
The power of language
The primary theme of Kneecap is language and the efforts people will go through to keep their native tongue alive, despite others attempts to replace and erase it. Mo Chara and Móglaí Bap had the pride of keeping the Irish language and culture alive instilled in them since childhood, which they carry over into their music.
The dialogue in Kneecap is half English, with the other half being Irish Gaelic, which is representative of the mixture in Kneecap’s lyrics. There’s actually an interesting examination of language here and how it can affect the impact of what’s being said. As one of them says to an English speaker, “The lyrics sound much better in Irish.”
When Mo Chara and Móglaí Bap are rapping, I of course have not a clue as to what they’re saying. Luckily, there’s a creative use of subtitles to guide me along, but really, I didn’t need to know what they’re saying! Those beats were sick and their groovy voices spitting out these rhymes in their unique Irish dialect was mesmerizing. It might be too early to call me a fan, but I can dig it.
The bumping soundtrack really drives Kneecap along at an energetic pace, but that doesn’t mean the heart and soul is ever lost through it all. Just like the content of their music, the themes of Irish independence, culture, and language are prevalent through it all. It’s all fun to listen to and watch, but there’s actual meaning to everything here.
While Ireland may be decades past The Troubles, the effects of those terrible times are still felt throughout the country and its citizens. Things aren’t as bad as they used to be, but there’s still a lot of harbored resentment and struggle for identity that can be felt in all of the Irish characters.
Kneecap ends on a heartfelt frame with text explaining how indigenous languages are slowly dying out every single day. It’s a stark contrast to the opening scene where Mo Chara jokingly says, “All movies about the Troubles start off with montages of car bombings, etc.” It shows that even if the darker times are behind us and we can maybe make some jokes about it, there’s still always something to keep fighting for or against.
[embedded content]
A multi-talented trio
Having the members of Kneecap portray themselves was a novel decision that seemed like a huge gamble, but it was paid off in spades. Any Irish actor would have been able to effectively play these people, but when you’re watching the final product, casting the actual members seems like the only choice Peppiatt could have made.
Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap, and DJ Próvai are all simply terrific in their big screen debuts. Sure, they may just be playing themselves, but that doesn’t automatically mean one is going to be a good actor. According to Peppiatt, they weren’t good actors during first rehearsals, but it’s clear their work with acting coach Kieran Lagan was well worth it.
The trio are all magnetic to watch in their own distinct ways. I was especially drawn in by DJ Próvai’s performance, who really seemed to tap into his real feelings he was going through at the time. You can tell how trapped he felt in a regular domestic life and that making music with meaning is freeing to him.
It’s also freeing to both Mo Chara and Móglaí Bap, who live through their music and the message their spread. The two are tons of fun to watch, with so much charisma and natural chemistry with each other where it basically feels like they’re brothers. Their personality and charm just came off as so natural.
Kneecap clearly relished in playing themselves, joyfully reliving their drug-addled, up and coming days before reaching stardom. However, you can also tell they took their acting debut seriously, taking the heavier dramatic scenes just as seriously. If any of them wanted to, they could easily start careers in acting.
Michael Fassbender brings a lot of star power to the proceedings, being the most experienced actor out of anyone in the cast. He’s only in a supporting role, but is phenomenal in every scene he’s in. The man commands the screen with his eyes alone, holding back anger, fear, and sadness, wondering if the fight for his country has been worth it.
Fassbender is great as always, but it really shows how effective these new unexperienced actors when they’re going head-to-head with him. Since Kneecap is Irish through and through, it felt like this subject matter really influenced everybody’s performances here on a deeply personal level.
Bursting out of the gate
While the film is serious in what its overall message is conveying about preserving one’s culture, Peppiatt and Kneecap still kept one thing at the very forefront: entertainment. There’s never a dull moment when you’re watching these guys make music, perform, deal with their personal relationships, or get tangled up with some nasty characters.
To match the attitude of the characters, the film has a hysterically cheeky attitude that’s very in your face. Kneecap are some talented musicians, but they’re also a bunch of rambunctious lads that love to do drugs and run amok having a good time. They’re just nice enough to bring you along for the ride here.
Their style is captured by little on-screen flourishes that Peppiatt and his crew added in post, such as little comic book-esque animations that accentuate the actions of the characters. Some of the subtitles are your standard text on screen, but others pop up around the characters written with scratchy handwriting, authentically representing the characters and setting.
Cinematographer Ryan Kernaghan keeps things looking fresh and exciting, using creative and inventive shot composition with some striking lighting. There’s lots of neon, especially during the club scenes. In contrast, the exterior Belfast setting is drab and gray, with some stunning wide shots of buildings covered head to toe with graffiti art to show the political attitude.
Overall it’s a solid debut outing from Peppiatt, even if it does eventually end up feeling a bit uneven and inconsistent. During the second half, many of the post-production visual flourishes were gone and the style a bit more toned down. This matched up with the plot getting more serious and high stakes, but these felt like an afterthought at times.
The story, characters, and themes are all fantastic, which unfortunately makes the last 10 minutes of the movie kind of fall flat on its face. It’s the only time where it really dragged to a halt and I was wondering what we were still doing here. The perfect ending was right there, but then it teetered far into the ridiculousness to give us a “big climactic ending” that wasn’t very necessary. Not enough to really bring the movie down, though.
Final verdict
If one is already a fan of Kneecap and familiar with their music and stance on politics, there’s really nothing not to love with this film that tells their backstory. It stars them, it’s written by them, and has their music constantly in the background. What more could a fan want?
But what if you’re like me and didn’t know anything about Kneecap, though? Well, they made sure to make an entertaining, hysterical, and heartfelt movie with resonant themes that people across many cultures can relate to. Even if hip hop music isn’t your bag, Kneecap has an infectiously hyperactive attitude with a big heart to go along with it.
My rating: 8/10
Kneecap will be released in limited theaters nationwide on Friday, August 2nd.
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Copyright 2024 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
