I love this movie so much

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

In 1972 the British Army was still bemused as to how it had become to be regarded as an invading force when only 3 years earlier it had been welcomed by the Catholic community as a means of protecting them against Protestant aggression. The Marxist IRA had done its work well and the Brits were hated,despised and murdered if it could be done with no risk to the killers. The Army was embittered and resentful,confused as to its role . Bloody Sunday was a disaster waiting to happen in a testosterone - fuelled cauldron of mutual distrust and hatred. In Mr Greengrass's film the blame for this tragedy is laid firmly at the door of the British Government. The only innocents are those that died. Mr J.Nesbitt is superb as the Stormont MP leading the march to protest against Internment. As in real life,the moment the first stone is thrown all bets are off. The two sides confront one another,and not surprisingly,the one with the biggest guns wins. Over 40 years have passed and vested interests amongst Republicans and senior British officials have ensured that the truth will never be known. The film is chaotic,jagged,noisy and bloody.There is no time for reflection,again as in real life. As details of the casualties filter through,the senior RUC man - hardly a provo sympathiser - says to a clearly shocked army officer,"Is this what you call a measured response?". The truest and most significant line in the whole film.

Greengrass brings his own brand of Cinema Verite to one of the UK's most notorious and shameful episodes in living memory. The iconic image of one brave soul waving a white hankie as he carries a wounded comrade is faithfully recreated, signaling the director's intent to give an interpretation, but an accurate interpretation, of the events that unfolded that day.The film's documentary-style works, just as it does in United 93. That film famously cast unknowns so as not to detract from the power of events. Here, Nesbitt's presence does at times seem jarring, but only in the early moments as he goes on to give an outstanding performance as the convivial Ivan, overwhelmed by a massacre no one could have predicted. The panic of the crowd, the echo of the shots being fired, the incredulity of the reactions - all are believable, and powerfully so. Were the Paras as deliberate and calculating as the film makes out? Isn't there a chance this was a few low IQ numbskulls whose ill-discipline got out of hand? The portrayal of the UK military in particular marks this film out as polemical in its handling of the material. However, given the obfuscation and emotion swirling around Bloody Sunday, how could it be otherwise? Anyone interested in history who thinks they can get it from a film should not be allowed to handle sharp cutlery. However, as a start point to generating curiosity about this event, the film is well-executed. Hopefully, it can be used to begin the social education of future generations as The Troubles start to slip from living memory. Greengrass has made this niche of film-making his own, and on this outing, that niche is in good hands.

Before The Bourne Supremacy, director Paul Greengrass made this historical drama based on a non-fiction book. Basically this is a documentary style film showing the events on January 30th, 1972, where a protest march through Londonderry for civil rights led by activist MP Ivan Cooper (BAFTA TV Award nominated James Nesbitt) turns into a disaster. I think it is when marchers start pelting the Parachute Regiment that they begin shooting at them, and they killed thirteen people, and wounded fourteen more. You see the action from both sides of the drama, from the protesters' point of view, and the members of the Regiment, including Major General Ford (Tim Pigott-Smith) and Brigadier MacLellan (Nicholas Farrell). Also starring Gerard McSorley as Chief Supt. Lagan, Kathy Kiera Clarke as Frances, Allan Gildea as Kevin McCorry, Gerard Crossan as Eamonn McCann and Mary Moulds as Bernadette Devlin. The only off-putting thing about this film is the frequent fades to black and no sound pauses going through the action, but besides this, a pretty powerful and provocative film. It won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Photography and Lighting, and it was nominated for Best Editing, Best Single Drama and Best Sound. Very good!

This film is extremely powerful, in that it displays human emotion, nature and instinct - both good and bad forms of it.Bloody Sunday is a documentary type film which gives the audience a feel of reality in how this one day led to thirty years of further violence culminating in the Good Friday agreement.Having watched this film (as well as The Wind that Shakes the Barley), I feel, and I believe I have the right to use the word, 'disturbed' as the realness in the way it was made gives a heart wrenching feeling whilst watching the end scenes. Which I can admit I have kept until this day on watching this film, which in a sense, is a positive thing as it demonstrates the dynamics this film holds.