1996 Irish film
| Some Mother's Son | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Terry George |
| Written by | Terry George Jim Sheridan |
| Produced by | Jim Sheridan Arthur Lappin Edward Burke |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Geoffrey Simpson |
| Edited by | Craig McKay |
| Music by | Bill Whelan |
| Production company | Castle Rock Entertainment |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures (Select territories) Rank-Castle Rock/Turner (United Kingdom) |
| Release date |
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| Running time | 112 minutes |
| Countries | Ireland United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1.9 million (US/UK) |
Some Mother's Son is a 1996 Irish-American film written and directed by Irish filmmaker Terry George, co-written by Jim Sheridan, and based on the true story of the 1981 hunger strike in the Maze Prison, in Northern Ireland. Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) prisoner Bobby Sands (played by John Lynch) led a protest against the treatment of IRA prisoners, claiming that they should be treated as prisoners of war rather than criminals. The mothers of two of the strikers, played by Helen Mirren and Fionnula Flanagan, fight to save their sons' lives. When the prisoners go on hunger strike and become incapacitated, the mothers must decide whether to abide by their sons' wishes, or to go against them and have them forcibly fed.
Helen Mirren and John Lynch had already acted together in the 1984 Troubles-related film Cal.
The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.
Cast
- Helen Mirren as Kathleen Quigley
- Fionnula Flanagan as Annie Higgins
- Aidan Gillen as Gerard Quigley
- David O'Hara as Frank Higgins
- John Lynch as Bobby Sands
- Tom Hollander as Farnsworth
- Tim Woodward as Harrington
- Ciarán Hinds as Danny Boyle
- Geraldine O'Rawe as Alice Quigley
- Gerard McSorley as Father Daly
- Dan Gordon as Inspector McPeake
- Grainne Delany as Theresa Higgins
- Ciarán Fitzgerald as Liam Quigley
- Robert Lang as Government Minister
- Oliver Maguire as Frank Maguire
- Stephen Hogan as Young Turk
- Anthony Brophy as Prisoner's Leader
- Myles Walsh as Man at Church door
Reception
The film grossed £778,960 ($1.2 million) in the United Kingdom and Ireland and $671,437 in the United States and Canada.
References
- "Some Mother's Son (1996)". BBFC. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
- "Festival de Cannes: Some Mother's Son". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved September 20, 2009.
- "Top 10 Rank films in UK 1996". Screen International. April 11, 1997. p. 16.
- Some Mother's Son at Box Office Mojo
External links
| Films directed by Terry George | |
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| European Film Award for European Discovery of the Year (Best Young Film) | |
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- 1996 films
- Films based on actual events
- Films set in Belfast
- Films about The Troubles (Northern Ireland)
- Films about the Irish Republican Army
- Irish political drama films
- Castle Rock Entertainment films
- Columbia Pictures films
- Films directed by Terry George
- 1996 drama films
- European Film Awards winners (films)
- 1981 Irish hunger strike
- 1996 directorial debut films
- Films about mother–son relationships
- 1990s English-language films
- American political drama films
- 1990s Irish films
- 1990s American films
- Irish film stubs
- 1990s drama film stubs