Kneecap: The Thing For Which Northern Ireland Is Most Known - A Review
The movie said this before displaying what "kneecapping" actually means.
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The movie said this before displaying what "kneecapping" actually means. 🔫💨
I just saw the film Kneecap and it was one of the best movies about a couple of fellas selling drugs and becoming rap superstars that I've ever seen. So let’s get the big stuff out of the way first.
Should I Go See Kneecap?
Absolutely!
Whether or not you speak the Irish language.
You'd better hurry too. Despite doing well at the Sundance Film Festival, we Statesiders are lucky to have an opportunity to watch this at all. It might not be in theaters for long, and I don't know anyone who sells DVDs anymore.
What is Kneecap About?
Kneecap is a very Irish movie that uses the Irish language for about half of the film. Some characters speak "the King's English," but many prefer the Irish tongue. As Arlo (Michael Fassbender and Mo Chapa’s movie dad) says, "The Irish language guides us toward our freedom." Luckily they subtitle the Irish-speaking parts. I'm sure most people think the only language people in Ireland speak is English, but that's not the whole truth. In Kneecap they say there are around 6000 Irish speakers left. That is a big part of why this movie is so amazing. Kneecap combines a battle to use their language, epic drug use, and three Irish lads saving their world by making Irish Hip-Hop. If you're like me, you might be wondering why you didn't write something like Kneecap first.
From the very beginning, Hip-Hop has been a revolutionary music style. The people who are credited with inventing it pushed that concept hard in the 70's and 80's. They took funky beats from disco and "cut" the parts of songs without lyrics into what the "breakers" would breakdance to. Once the rappers stepped in, the flows kept getting better and better, and over time we had this amazing network of artists all across the United States. From there, Hip-Hop took on the rest of the world.
In Kneecap, a couple of bad Irish boys from West Belfast decided as small children that they were going to sell drugs. They found some after it "appeared" in a bag they had. Those lads were helpful (or mischievous) enough to make it possible for everyone to feel the flavor they found.
The boys eventually grow up and fit themselves into careers as street pharmacists. That means they are still selling drugs at clubs. Even more fun is that the actors in Kneecap are played by the guys in the band Kneecap. So Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara, and JJ (DJ Próvai) know this story so well because they lived it. Very few people in biopics are played by the people who were there.
To break this down once more: Kneecap is a film made by the musicians from the rap group Kneecap that performs in the Irish language and a walking, talking "fuck up" to the establishment. From top to bottom, this is an excellent film.
I'm not sure I can watch a movie with subtitles.
Yes, you can! I believe in you.
I had to turn on my Derry Girls ears to understand as much as I could, but the subtitles are great for the Irish language parts. Plus, the way they display the lyrics during Kneecap's songs is outstanding too. If you've ever listened to U.K. Hip-Hop, you can get a vibe for what this music will sound like. Kneecap made me nod my head and wave my hands in the air like I just didn't care.
Neither of these bad Irish boys is thinking of making anything. They're just some kids selling drugs at a club until the peelers (police) show up. One makes it back to his mum, but the other gets pinched. While the police interrogate him, he only speaks to them a language the cops don't understand: Irish. It's some colonizer shit to "serve the peace" in a country and never learn the language. If you know anything about the history of Ireland, you know England used them as their first attempt at learning the vicious art of Colonizing cultures. The stories and starvation behind Irish colonization are as incredible as they are tragic. They blow past all of that history at the intro. Kneecap is not a movie about that stuff.
The peelers need an Irish translator to reach this kid. They place a call to JJ's (DJ Próvai) wife, who does that sort of thing as part of a group she works with. JJ is too tired from teaching music all day, but his wife is too drunk from one of her meetings. So JJ has to go in her stead even though he would rather sleep.
Once JJ gets to the police station and begins the translation, he and Móglaí Bap have a conversation that none of the peelers can understand. So when Móglaí Bap starts asking JJ to take a side between the English-speaking cops or the Irish hood sitting across the table, JJ thinks hard about it but picks the Irish hood. In this interrogation process, JJ has to protect Móglaí Bap's notebook where Bap keeps all the records about his life. He slides it into his jacket pocket while Móglaí Bap makes a scene and manages to escape with it.
Back at his house, JJ opens up the notebook and finds a sheet of what looks to be acid tabs inside the pages. He throws them away, but now he can see the flows on the pages Móglaí Bap wrote. He might have missed those if he hadn’t opened the notebook. It turns out that JJ is a producer. He goes to his little garage studio and starts making a and recognizes Móglaí Bap’s words are actually his flows. Slowly, JJ can feel the ember of his musical dreams returning.
The next time Móglaí Bap and JJ meet is by accident. Móglaí is running from Rangers due to a fight he started. While running away from a group of 20 yellow coat-wearing men (and 1 child), he dives into JJ's car and makes a clean getaway. He also takes the time to shit on those rangers as he leaves. Móglaí is surprised he dove into JJ’s car. This wasn’t the plan for either of them. JJ gives him the notebook back and makes his pitch to Móglaí and Mo about starting a rap group that raps in Irish.
No one has ever attempted this before. Everyone they tell about this thinks it's a bad idea, but that's because nobody has ever attempted it before. Mo Chara isn't into it at first but after JJ's begging and pleading, these three go back to the studio and immediately start making hot tracks. Then they start doing hella drugs. It's a slew of recording, doing drugs, and getting naked like Lil' Kim and Tommy Lee. It was nuts, but the songs were awesome. They all got something they wanted out of it.
The Irish Rockstar Apocalypse
You might be able to guess where it's going next, but you have no idea how these hoods are going to get there. The fame comes quickly, but why? Was it the drugs they gave out when they were too high? Was it because DJ Próvai hides his face behind a ski mask shaped like the Irish flag? Could it be that Irish people in Ireland are as oppressed as African Americans which makes the kids come out in droves? Who can say? Either way, it worked for them.
The passion that drives the creation of Hip-Hop is using whatever you can find to make the music you want and distribute it to your world to hear. Kneecap understands this and mixes in the running, the drama, and the danger they face. This film understands the sanctity of fighting to use your own language in your own country. The world needs to understand that they need Irish-language Hip-Hop. I hope you understand this too.
