Facts and fiction in a fine movie

THANKS to In the Name of the Father, millions around the world know the full extent of what happened to the Guildford Four and the Maguire family, who were imprisoned in Britain for crimes they did not commit.

And apart from being educated in the horrors of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, audiences can enjoy an intense drama with excellent performances by Daniel Day-Lewis, Pete Postlethwaite and Emma Thompson.

So how can a reviewer quibble? These Irish nationals suffered terribly in prison and everybody should know how evidence was manufactured - and suppressed - by the British authorities to keep them there.

As a film, In the Name of the Father works almost perfectly - although its descent into standard courtroom drama at the end is disappointing, but inevitable. Early scenes of riots in Belfast give a true indication of how volatile Northern Ireland was in 1974.

When the conflict moved to Britain, and five innocent civilians were killed by the Irish Republican Army in the Guildford pub bombings of October 5, 1974, that sense of panic arose in British citizens too. Under extreme pressure to solve the crimes, the British authorities passed the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act.

The first to fall victim under the sweeping police powers was small-time criminal Paul Hill (John Lynch). Isolated and interrogated for days on end, Hill made what he believed to be an obviously false confession fingering his friend Gerry Conlon (Day-Lewis), and two fellow squatters Paddy Armstrong (Mark Sheppard) and Carole Richardson (Beatie Edney).

Conlon also caved in to police brutality and gave a false confession, unaware of how the net had spread to his aunt, Annie Maguire, and his father Guiseppe (Postlethwaite).