History Film / InTheNameOfTheFather

BasedOnATrueStory, this film starred Creator/DanielDayLewis, Pete Postlethwaite and Creator/EmmaThompson. Released in 1993, it chronicles the ordeal of the Guildford Four, a group of three young Irishmen and their Englishwoman friend WronglyAccused of bombing two soldiers' pubs in Guildford, England in 1974. At the height of UsefulNotes/TheTroubles, all four were involved with drugs and petty crime, a profile the British police (wrongly) believed fit the IRA. In fact Gerry Conlon (Day-Lewis) left England to get away from the IRA who had threatened him for committing theft. After the bombing, police acted on a tip, arresting the four (and later Conlon family members, including Gerry Conlon's father Giuseppe). Coerced into falsely confessing by the police, the Four were convicted by this along with junk science indicating nitroglycerin traces on their bodies at trial, with the Irishmen receiving life sentences and their English friend fifteen years. Six other Conlon family members were also convicted on lesser charges and received sentences ranging from six to fifteen years in prison, including Giuseppe.

* GrayAndGreyMorality: The British government is obviously the main antagonist, but the IRA aren't shown to be upstanding guys either, although are potrayed in a more positive light.

* KarmaHoudini: In the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, it's stated three of the detectives who framed the Guildford Four were tried for perverting the course of justice in 1993, but acquitted. Sadly, that's TruthInTelevision. The real bombers were also never charged, despite their confessions, and they were released under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement after 21 years in prison for other crimes.

* KarmaHoudini: In the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, it's stated three of the detectives who framed the Guildford Four were tried for perverting the course of justice in 1993, but acquitted. Sadly, that's TruthInTelevision. The real bombers were also never charged, despite their confession, and were released under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement after 21 years in prison for other crimes.

* KarmaHoudini: In the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, it's stated three of the detectives who framed the Guildford Four were tried for perverting the course of justice in 1993, but acquitted. Sadly, that's TruthInTelevision.

* DawsonCasting: Beatie Edney played 17-year old Carol Richardson while at least 30 at the time of filming herself (although she's later aged up as her character spends 15 years in prison).
* FakeIrish: Creator/DanielDayLewis, Mark Sheppard and Pete Postlethwaite. However Day-Lewis got Irish citizenship and lives there, while Sheppard has some Irish heritage. All of them put on good accents too. Mostly it's averted anyway.

BasedOnATrueStory, this film starred Creator/DanielDayLewis, Pete Postlethwaite and Creator/EmmaThompson. Released in 1993, it chronicles the ordeal of the Guildford Four, a group of three young Irishmen and their Englishwoman friend WronglyAccused of bombing two soldiers' pubs in Guildford, England in 1974. At the height of UsefulNotes/TheTroubles, all four were involved with drugs and petty crime, a profile the British police (wrongly) believed fit IRA terrorists. In fact Gerry Conlon (Day-Lewis) left England to get away from the IRA who had threatened him for committing theft. After the bombing, police acted on a tip, arresting the four (and later Conlon family members, including Gerry Conlon's father Giuseppe). Coerced into falsely confessing by the police, the Four were convicted by this along with junk science indicating nitroglycerin traces on their bodies at trial, with the Irishmen receiving life sentences and their English friend fifteen years. Six other Conlon family members were also convicted on lesser charges and received sentences ranging from six to fifteen years in prison, including Giuseppe.

* GrayAndGreyMorality: The British government is obviously the main antagonist, but the IRA aren't shown to be upstanding guys either.

Gerry and Giuseppe are imprisoned together in one of the hardest British prisons, having to fight at first to survive inside. They meet one of the real bombers, Joe [=McAndrew=], after he is locked up with them. Joe confirms their innocence, but the police do not want to hear it. Gerry briefly falls under [=McAndrew=]'s spell, to Giuseppe's alarm, but his presence secures their status in the prison and he leads a protest which drives out the guards. The riot squad soon retakes the wing, however, and [=McAndrew=] swears revenge. Following this, an English lawyer, Gareth Pierce (Thompson), inspects things with an investigative commission after the riot, and tells Giuseppe she will look into his case. Gerry angrily tells her to not give him false hope. Still, in time all of the real murderers they are with recognize them to be innocent, and even the Chief Warder is implied to have doubts after getting to know the gentle, beautific Giuseppe. Gerry's affinity with [=McAndrew=] ends when he leads his fellow prisoners in a brutal attack on Barker for retaking the wing, and he is transferred to another prison in solitary confinement. After Giuseppe's premature death from ill health exacerbated by prison, Gerry embarks on a quest to prove himself innocent with the help of Gareth, leading to a stirring and magnificent conclusion.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: In reality, Gerry Conlon and his father Giuseppe were in separate prisons. [[{{TearJerker}} Gerry never saw his father again]]. The real bombers were also never incarcerated with any of the Four, although they did confess at their own trial, exonerating them. Just as in the film, this was dismissed by the British authorities until evidence the police had lied about their confessions was revealed. There was also alibi witness. Rather, the police falsified their interrogation notes to cover up the coercion they used to obtain the confessions. This was discovered by another police detective, not the Four's lawyer, when he was looking over the case file. However the Griess test really did result in many false positives (such as the chemicals in ''playing cards'' being wrongly identified as nitroglycerin by a technician, for instance).

* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Police tortured them to confess, although doing so in ways that wouldn't leave any marks.

BasedOnATrueStory, this film starred Creator/DanielDayLewis, Pete Postlethwaite and Creator/EmmaThompson. Released in 1993, it chronicles the ordeal of the Guildford Four, a group of three young Irishmen and their Englishwoman friend WronglyAccused of bombing two soldiers' pubs in Guildford, England in 1974. At the height of TheTroubles, all four were involved with drugs and petty crime, a profile the British police (wrongly) believed fit IRA terrorists. In fact Gerry Conlon (Day-Lewis) left England to get away from the IRA who had threatened him for committing theft. After the bombing, police acted on a tip, arresting the four (and later Conlon family members, including Gerry Conlon's father Giuseppe). Coerced into falsely confessing by the police, the Four were convicted by this along with junk science indicating nitroglycerin traces on their bodies at trial, with the Irishmen receiving life sentences and their English friend fifteen years. Six other Conlon family members were also convicted on lesser charges and received sentences ranging from six to fifteen years in prison, including Giuseppe.

* TheTroubles: The backdrop for the film. 1974 was the height of a bombing campaign on the British mainland by the IRA.

* DawsonCasting: Beatie Edney played 17-year old Carol Richardson while at least 30 at the time of filming herself.
* FakeIrish: Creator/DanielDayLewis, Mark Sheppard and Pete Postlethwaite. However Day-Lewis got Irish citizenship and lives there, while Sheppard has some Irish heritage. All of them put on good accents too. Mostly it's averted anyway.

* FakeIrish: Creator/DanielDayLewis, Mark Sheppard and Pete Postlethwaite. However Day-Lewis got Irish citizenship and lives there, while Sheppard has some Irish heritage. All of them put on good accents too. Mostly it's averted anyway.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: In reality, Gerry Conlon and his father Giuseppe were in separate prisons. [[{{TearJerker}} Gerry never saw his father again]]. The real bombers were also never incarcerated with any of the Four, although they did confess at their own trial, exonerating them. Just as in the film, this was dismissed by the British authorities until evidence the police had lied about their confessions was revealed. There was also alibi witness. Rather, the police falsified their interrogation notes to cover up the coercion they used to obtain the confessions. This was discovered by another police detective, not the Four's lawyer, when he was looking over the case file. However the Griess test really did result in many false positives (such as the chemicals in ''playing cards'' being wrongly identified as nitroglycerin, for instance.

Gerry and Giuseppe are imprisoned together in one of the hardest British prisons, having to fight at first to survive inside. They meet one of the real bombers, Joe {{McAndrew}}, after he is locked up with them. Joe confirms their innocence, but the police do not want to hear it. Gerry briefly falls under {{McAndrew}}'s spell, to Giuseppe's alarm, but his presence secures their status in the prison and he leads a protest which drives out the guards. The riot squad soon retakes the wing, however, and {{McAndrew}} swears revenge. Following this, an English lawyer, Gareth Pierce (Thompson), inspects things with an investigative commission after the riot, and tells Giuseppe she will look into his case. Gerry angrily tells her to not give him false hope. Still, in time all of the real murderers they are with recognize them to be innocent, and even the Chief Warder is implied to have doubts after getting to know the gentle, beautific Giuseppe. Gerry's affinity with {{McAndrew}} ends when he leads his fellow prisoners in a brutal attack on Barker for retaking the wing, and he is transferred to another prison in solitary. After Giuseppe's premature death from ill health exacerbated by prison, Gerry embarks on a quest to prove himself innocent with the help of Gareth, leading to a stirring and magnificent conclusion.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: In reality, Gerry Conlon and his father Giuseppe were in separate prisons. [[{{TearJerker}} Gerry never saw his father again]]. The real bombers were also never incarcerated with any of the Four, although they did confess at their own trial, exonerating them. Just as in the film, this was dismissed by the British authorities until evidence the police had lied about their confessions was revealed.

BasedOnATrueStory, this film starred Creator/DanielDayLewis, Pete Postlethwaite and EmmaThompson. Released in 1993, it chronicles the ordeal of the Guildford Four, a group of three young Irishmen and their Englishwoman friend WronglyAccused of bombing two soldiers' pubs in Guildford, England in 1974. At the height of TheTroubles, all four were involved with drugs and petty crime, a profile the British police (wrongly) believed fit IRA terrorists. In fact Gerry Conlon (Day-Lewis) left England to get away from the IRA who had threatened him for committing theft. After the bombing, police acted on a tip, arresting the four (and later Conlon family members, including Gerry Conlon's father Giuseppe). Coerced into falsely confessing by the police, the Four were convicted by this along with junk science indicating nitroglycerin traces on their bodies at trial, with the Irishmen receiving life sentences and their English friend fifteen years. Six other Conlon family members were also convicted on lesser charges and received sentences ranging from six to fifteen years in prison, including Giuseppe.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Art film fans will recognize the first defense attorney as Bosco Hogan, who played Stephen Dedalus in the 1977 film version of ''Literature/APortraitOfTheArtistAsAYoungMan''.
** Not to mention Mark A. Sheppard as one of the Four.

BasedOnATrueStory, this film starred Creator/DanielDayLewis, Pete Postlethwaite and EmmaThompson. Released in 1993, it chronicles the ordeal of the Guildford Four, a group of three young Irishmen and their Englishwoman friend WronglyAccused of bombing two soldiers' pubs in Guildford, England in 1974. At the height of TheTroubles, all four were involved with drugs and petty crime, a profile the British police (wrongly) believed fit IRA terrorists. In fact Gerry Conlon (Day-Lewis) left England to get away from the IRA who had threatened him for committing theft. After the bombing, police acted on a tip, arresting the four (and later Conlon family members, including Gerry Conlon's father Giuseppe). Coerced into falsely confessing by the police, the Four were convicted by this along with junk science indicating nitroglycerin traces at trial, with the Irishmen receiving life sentences and their English friend fifteen years. Six other Conlon family members were also convicted on lesser charges and received sentences ranging from six to fifteen years in prison, including Giuseppe.

Gerry and Giuseppe are imprisoned together in one of the hardest British prisons, having to fight at first to survive inside. They meet one of the real bombers, Joe {{McAndrew}}, after he is locked up with them. Joe confirmed their innocence, but the police did not want to hear it. Gerry briefly falls under {{McAndrew}}'s spell, to Giuseppe's alarm, but his presence secures their status in the prison and he leads a protest which drives out the guards. The riot squad soon retakes the wing, however, and {{McAndrew}} swears revenge. Following this, an English lawyer, Gareth Pierce (Thompson), inspects things with an investigative commission after the riot, and tells Giuseppe she will look into his case. Gerry angrily tells her to not give him false hope. Still, in time all of the real murderers they are with recognize them to be innocent, and even the Chief Warder is implied to have doubts after getting to know the gentle, beautific Giuseppe. Gerry's affinity with {{McAndrew}} ends when he leads his fellow prisoners in a brutul attack on Barker for retaking the wing, and he is transferred to solitary in another prison. After Giuseppe's premature death from ill health exacerbated by prison, Gerry embarks on a quest to prove himself innocent with the help of Gareth, leading to a stirring and magnificent conclusion.

* KarmaHoudini: In the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, it's stated three of the detectives who framed the Guildford Four were tried for perverting the course of justice in 1993, but acquitted. Sadly, a case of TruthInTelevision.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: In reality, Gerry Conlon and his father Giuseppe were in separate prisons. [[Tearjerker Gerry never saw his father again]]. The real bombers were also never incarcerated with any of the Four, although they did confess at their own trial, exonerating them. Just as in the film, this was dismissed by the British authorities until evidence the police had lied about their confessions was revealed.

* KarmaHoudini: In the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, it's stated three of the detectives who framed the Guildford Four were tried for perverting the course of justice in 1993, but acquitted.

BasedOnATrueStory, this film starred DanielDayLewis, Pete Postlethwaite and EmmaThompson. Released in 1993, it chronicles the ordeal of the Guildford Four, a group of three young Irishmen and their Englishwoman friend WronglyAccused of bombing two soldiers' pubs in Guildford, England in 1974. At the height of TheTroubles, all four were involved with drugs and petty crime, a profile the British police (wrongly) believed fit IRA terrorists. In fact Gerry Conlon (Day-Lewis) left England to get away from the IRA who had threatened him for committing theft. After the bombing, police acted on a tip, arresting the four (and later Conlon family members, including Gerry Conlon's father Giuseppe). Coerced into falsely confessing by the police, the Four were convicted by this along with junk science indicating nitroglycerin traces at trial, with the Irishmen receiving life sentences and their English friend fifteen years. Six other Conlon family members were also convicted on lesser charges and received sentences ranging from six to fifteen years in prison, including Giuseppe.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Art film fans will recognize the first defense attorney as Bosco Hogan, who played Stephen Dedalus in the 1977 film version of ''APortraitOfTheArtistAsAYoungMan''.

BasedOnATrueStory, this film starred DanielDayLewis, Pete Postlethwaite and EmmaThompson. Released in 1993, it chronicles the ordeal of the Guildford Four, a group of three young Irishmen and their Englishwoman friend WronglyAccused of bombing two soldiers' pubs in Guildford, England in 1974. At the height of TheTroubles, all four were involved with drugs and petty crime, a profile the British police (wrongly) believed fit IRA terrorists. In fact Gerry Conlon (Day-Lewis) left England to get away from the IRA who had threatened him for committing theft. After the bombing, police acted on a tip, arresting the four (and later Conlon family members, including Gerry Conlon's father Giuseppe). Coerced into falsely confessing by the police, the Four were convicted by this along with junk science at trial, with the Irishmen receiving life sentences and their English friend fifteen years. Six other Conlon family members were also convicted on lesser charges and received sentences ranging from six to fifteen years in prison, including Giuseppe.

Gerry and Giuseppe are imprisoned together in one of the hardest British prisons, having to fight at first to survive inside. They meet one of the real bombers, Joe McAndrew, after he is locked up with them, who confirms they are innocent, but the police do not want to hear it. Gerry briefly falls under McAndrew's spell, to Giuseppe's alarm, but his presence secures their status in the prison and he leads a protest which drives out the guards. The riot squad soon retakes the wing, however, and McAndrew swears revenge. Following this, an English lawyer, Gareth Pierce (Thompson), inspects things with some other people after the riot, and tells Giuseppe she will look into his case. Gerry angrily tells her to not give him false hope. Still, in time all of the real murderers they are with recognize them to be innocent, and even the Chief Warder is implied to have doubts after getting to know the gentle, beautific Giuseppe. Gerry's affinity with McAndrew ends when he leads his fellow prisoners in a brutul attack on Barker for retaking the wing, and he is transferred to solitary in another prison for this. After Giuseppe's premature death from ill health exacerbated by prison, Gerry embarks on a quest to prove himself innocent with the help of Gareth, leading to a stirring and magnificent conclusion.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: In reality, Gerry Conlon and his father Giuseppe were in separate prisons. [[Tearjerker Gerry never saw his father again]]. The real bombers were also never incarcerated with any of the Four, although they did confess at their own trial, exonerating them. Just as in the film, this was dismissed by the British authorities.
* AssholeVictim: Gerry. We first see him stealing building material and his alibi is robbing a prostitute.

BasedOnATrueStory, this film starred DanielDayLewis, Pete Postlethwaite and EmmaThompson. Released in 1993, it chronicles the ordeal of the Guildford Four, a group of young Irishmen WronglyAccused of bombing two soldiers' pubs in Guildford, England in 1974. At the height of TheTroubles, all four were involved with drugs and petty crime, a profile the British police (wrongly) believed fit IRA terrorists. In fact Gerry Conlon (Day-Lewis) left England to get away from the IRA who had threatened him for committing theft. After the bombing, police acted on a tip, arresting the four (and later Conlon family members, including Gerry Conlon's father Giuseppe). Coerced into falsely confessing by the police, the Four were convicted by this along with junk science at trial, and received life sentences. Six other Conlon family members were also convicted on lesser charges and received sentences ranging from six to fifteen years in prison, including Giuseppe.

The film uses dramatic license, showing Gerry and his father Postlethwaite imprisoned together (in RealLife they were separated, and Gerry never saw his father again) with their fight to survive inside, meeting one of the real bombers (also fictional, they never met them; although the men responsible confessed at their own trial, exonerating the Guildford Four, the police didn't want to hear it). After Giuseppe's premature death from ill health exacerbated by prison, Gerry embarks on a quest to prove himself innocent after he is urged on by an idealistic attorney (Thompson), leading to a magnificent conclusion.

** Not to mention Mark.A.Sheppard as one of the hippies.

* KarmaHoudini: The detectives who framed the Guildford Four were acquitted of perverting the course of justice.

BasedOnATrueStory, this film starred DanielDayLewis, Pete Postlethwaite and EmmaThompson. Released in 1993, it chronicles the ordeal of the Guildford Four, a group of young Irishmen WronglyAccused of bombing two soldiers' pubs in Guildford, England in 1974. At the height of TheTroubles, all four were involved with drugs and petty crime, a profile the British police (wrongly) believed fit IRA terrorists. In fact Gerry Conlon (Day-Lewis) left England to get away from the IRA who had threatened him for committing theft. After the bombing, police acted on a tip, arresting the four (and later Conlon family members, including Gerry Conlon's father Giuseppe). Coerced into falsely confessing by the police, the Four were convicted by this along with junk science at trial, and received life sentences.

* "Well Done, Son" Guy: Giuseppe is this to Gerry.

The film uses dramatic license, showing Gerry and his father Postlethwaite imprisoned together (in RealLife they were separate) with their fight to survive inside, and meet one of the real bombers (also fictional; although the men responsible confessed at trial, exonerating the Guildford Four, the police didn't want to hear it). After Giuseppe's premature death from ill health exacerbated by prison, Gerry embarks on a quest to prove himself innocent after he is urged on by an idealistic attorney (Thompson), leading to a magnificent conclusion.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Art film fans will recognize the defense attorney as Bosco Hogan, who played Stephen Dedalus in the 1977 film version of ''APortraitOfTheArtistAsAYoungMan''.

* "Well Done,Son" Guy: Giuseppe is this to Gerry.