Julie Haaber 9b

In the name of the father

https://www.gradesaver.com/in-the-name-of-the-father/study-guide/summary
https://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/in-the-name-of-the-father#:~:text=As%20much%20as%20In
%20the,an%20estranged%20father%20and%20son.

1 time 22 minutter

Resume (from the link)

Conlon is a petty criminal. As the film opens he is busy stealing the lead from the roofs of houses in
the middle of Belfast. His endeavors are interrupted by the arrival of security forces who have got
the area surrounded to prevent his fleeing the scene. A riot breaks out and this puts Gerry offside
with the high up members of the IRA who don't like anyone connected to them opening themselves
up to capture and investigation. Luckily for Gerry, his father Giuseppe is well ingratiated with the
IRA and manages to save him from likely punishment. He packs Gerry off to London where he has
an aunt he can stay with, but Gerry wants no part of this plan and instead finds a squat in an
abandoned house where it will be far easier to enjoy the free ice of the early 1970s and to smoke as
much dope as possible.
On the evening that changes his life, two things happen. Gerry procures a prostitute and
manipulates an invitation back to her flat, stealing the £700 he finds there and then leaving. He
stops briefly to chat with a man who is sitting in the park. The second hung that happens is an
explosion caused by a bombing in a pub in the upmarket city of Guildford, about an hour south of
London. Four off-duty soldiers are killed by the explosion, and one civilian member of the public is
murdered too. Sixty five people are seriously wounded and the psyche of the city is irreparably
damaged.
With the stolen cash in his pocket, Gerry goes home to Belfast to show off his riches. In his absence
one of the other people living in the London squat reports him to authorities as a likely pub bomber;
the Conlon home in Belfast is raided by the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the British Army. Gerry
is arrested and flown back to England along with his friend Paul Hill. They are interrogated for days
under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. The police bully and threaten and eventually both men break
and confess. Hearing about the confession, Giuseppe Conlon travels to London to try to help his son
and is arrested at his sister's house. She is also arrested and both are tried and subsequently
convicted of supporting the bombing, traces of nitroglycerin that were found in the home used as
evidence. They are known in the press as the Maguire Seven. Gerry, Paul Hill and the other two
members of the Guildford Four are also convicted of the bombing and given long sentences.
Bitter and angry, blaming his father for his situation, Gerry has an epiphany one day when he learns
that the man who really masterminded the bombing is also imprisoned in the same jail. The man
starts a prison riot and sets a guard on fire. Gerry saves the guard's life by covering him with a
blanket and putting out the flames.
After his father dies in jail, Gerry becomes the leader of the fight for justice. He gains publicity and
support and the Free The Four movement gains enough momentum to grab the attention of a lawyer
called Gareth Peirce. She is campaigning to clear the Maguire Seven but when she gains access to
Gerry's file she discovers a document that is marked "Not to be shown to the Defence". She
Julie Haaber 9b

triumphantly produces the annotated file during the appeal and states that as the police have lied and
withheld evidence the convictions should be overturned. The convictions are quashed and the
Guildford Four are released. In talking to the media after his release, Gerry proclaims his father's
innocence as well as his own - perhaps even more than his own. The Maguire Seven were
subsequently exonerated but the Guildford Four were not; the police were acquitted of any
wrongdoing during the investigation.

People
Gerry Conlon main character
Giuseppe Conlon father
Gareth Peirce
Paul Hill
Robert Dixon police officer (leader of torture)
Carole Richardson
Paddy Armstrong

Direct film notes

- Guildford England October 5., 1974
- Flashbacks from 70’s in Belfast
- The military walking on the streets scared to death about normal citizens being an IRA man
- Three normal “crackheads” running around Belfast escaping the military that thought they
were snippers. Backup comes and there is starting a riot between military and citizens - also
children. Rocks and fire are throwed.
- IRA is about to shoot these “crackheads” that started to riot. One of them called Gerry.
- Gerry’s dad sort him out of the mess
- Gerry is a thief and needs to get out of Belfast before anything worse happens
- Gerry meets a friend of his at the boat - they then celebrate getting away from Belfast
- 26th of June, London - with his friend
- Gerry (Wild one) and his friend (Porr - Saddest Moon) is staying at their friend’s house
Paddy
- Gerry’s dad is checking in on him to make sure he’s on the right track
- While everything seems to be fine in London Belfast is burning
- A scene comes up with the IRAs leader planning a bomb at 8.00 no warning on a Guildford
pub - the act is seen as a terrorist attack
- Gerry and Porr gets out of their friends flat and go into a house and steals money and sleep
- He then goes back to Belfast to show the money to his family, but because of the attack
from the IRA, he’s arrested for suspicion
- The arrest is harsh, and the police don’t trust his alibi
- Now the family is under arrest too
- Gerry has it rough and is hallucinating because of how the police treats him
- He ends up confessing and gets in jail
Julie Haaber 9b

- His dad visits him in jail and has gotten him a lawyer
- Gerry has gotten crazy. He’s insane and hallucinate
- They are now I court and even a 14-year-old boy is held up against court
- The defence confronts the police leader to have done mentally and physically abuse on the
so-called terrorist
- The court process is long, and the so-called terrorist are seeing it as a joke now. they almost
don’t care.
- Gerry ends up getting a minimum 30 years imprisoned

Review (from the link)

As much as In the Name of the Father is about the true facts surrounding the conviction and
eventual freeing of Gerry Conlon and his three innocent friends, the movie's primary aim is more
intimate and personal: to show the development of the relationship between an estranged father and
son.