The true story took place with ‘A Company’ of the 4th
Western Brigade of the Army. The company
commander was Comdt. Pat Quinlan, who lived in Athlone at the time.
The company arrived to a very tense and uncertain
time in the town of Elizabethville in the Belgian Congo in Africa. Pat Quinlan and the company were sent about
70 miles away to Jadotville. Their equipment,
other than rifles was 2nd World War stuff, and they had no great
means of transport. A five day battle in Jadotville ensued between the Belgian
Katangans and the Irish, who were only there as peacekeepers. The Irish men of Jadotville got no help from
their United Nations masters, so were left to their own devices. The battle took place on the ground and in
the air.
Most of ‘A Company’ had been based in Custume
Barracks, Athlone, and for those who do not know the story, it is best to leave
the plot description as stands.
The book the movie, ‘The Siege of Jadotville’ is
based on was written by security analyst, Declan Power, and the man who lobbied
governments for four decades on the Jadotville story is John Gorman, who was a
17 years old soldier in 1961. John is
played by a young actor, Ronan Rafferty.Cmdt. Pat Quinlan is played by Irish star, Jamie Dornan from ’50 Shades of Grey’ and TV’s ‘The Fall’. Jason O’Mara from TV’s ‘Love/Hate’ played Sgt. Jack Prendergast, and every story has a villain and in this case it was Conor Cruise O’Brien, who was played by Mark Strong.
O’Brien was an Irish UN official who is portrayed as being useless to the Jadotville soldiers.
It takes some time to get into the movie, but the performances of Dornan and Strong are excellent.
Cinematography is good, and the recreation of the world of the Irish in the Congo in 1961 is compelling to watch.
Certainly for those who like war films, ‘The Siege of Jadotville’, is the genre at its best.
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