Small Things Like These and 3 Other Historically Accurate Films & Series About Ireland
The most realistic projects that reveal the history of one country.
Recently, Small Things Like These starring Cillian Murphy was released – a quiet but important movie about the difficult choices a caring person has to make when society turns away from other people's problems.
We talk about the movie by Tim Mielants and recall other films, thanks to which you can learn a little more about the most important events in the country.
1. Small Things Like These, 2024
At first glance, Small Things Like These does not look like a historical movie. It seems to be just the story of an ordinary worker, a quiet coal miner Bill, trying to feed his wife and five daughters.
But soon director Tim Mielants focuses on a completely different aspect: while working, Bill discovers a trembling girl in the barn of a local convent.
The man immediately understands where the stranger comes from: the convent has a Magdalene asylum, and everyone in the small town knows about the fate of numerous unfortunate women.
2. Sing Street, 2016
The main character is Conor, a teenager whose parents, due to financial difficulties, send him to a free Catholic school in Dublin, where he meets Raphina. Fascinated, Conor impulsively declares that he is part of a rock band, even though there is no band.
Love and music intertwine, and the search for friends to quickly form a rock band turns out to be not just a hobby or a way to get the attention of a girl, but a desire to escape the drudgery of everyday life.
3. In the Name of the Father, 1993
Jim Sheridan's film tells the story of the high-profile case of the Guildford Four –-four Irishmen wrongly convicted of bombing pubs in Guildford in 1974. The authorities needed a quick verdict, so random young men who were in the wrong place at the wrong time were found guilty.
Based on Gerry Conlon's autobiography, the film not only reveals the shocking details of judicial error in the British system, but also shows how an unjust conviction changed the lives of innocent people. They were exonerated only 15 years later, but not all of those convicted lived to see their acquittals.
4. Derry Girls, 2018-2022
It's 1994, and Erin and her friends don't think much about the horrors happening on the streets: when you're sixteen, your daily routine is filled with personal problems and school intrigues.
In a way, the show's creator, Lisa McGee, plunges the audience into the depths of her own memories: the screenwriter grew up in Derry during the last years of the conflict and drew inspiration from her experiences when writing the series.
Derry Girls is an incredibly funny and touching show about Irish youth, but the writers don't forget the historical context.
Armed police on the streets, graffiti with slogans and an evening news report on the progress of the war are the daily routine of local teenagers trying not to let the conflict overshadow their carefree youth.