REEL | Speaking Irish – 'Kneecap' Raps It Up

"Every word of Irish spoken is a bullet fired for Irish freedom."

Sony Pictures Classics / Mongrel Media

Controversial West Belfast hip-hop trio Kneecap, known for rapping republican lyrics in their native Irish language, star in their own titular biographical film about their rise to fame and infamy. Set in 2019, British-Irish filmmaker Rich Peppiatt directs the plainly titled Kneecap with an energetic, riotous verve to its provocative, explicitly anti-UK material of rebellion.

Starring rappers Mo Chara (Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh), Móglaí Bap (Naoise Ó Cairealláin), and DJ Próvaí (JJ Ó Dochartaigh) as fictional versions of themselves, there's an obvious naturalistic fit to how the group dramatizes their own stories beyond just spitting angry, anti-establishment rhymes. Their focus on the darkly comedic elements of their unlikely journey from low-level drug dealing on the streets of Belfast to greater stardom and notoriety makes the whole 8 Mile origin story treatment after only just now releasing their second studio album all the more impressive.

A ringer in the form of Nothern Ireland native Michael Fassbender co-stars as Naoise's absentee fugitive father who faked his own death ten years earlier to avoid arrest for his political violence and bombings. He represents a more old-guard, militant view of Irish republicanism that's become jaded over time and resentful of his son's younger generation. However, the film and its raucous music make their message of language preservation as a part of national identity of paramount importance.

Kneecap is as blisteringly funny as it is politically charged. While Liam and Naoise seem initially bratty in their seemingly misguided ideals by their views on Irish independence, how they express their ideals through frank lyrics about drug use and government mistreatment puts Ireland's historical fracturing all the more into perspective. Kneecap, both the film and band pull no punches when it comes to its portrayal of colonial violence, civil unrest, and political freedom for good and ill.


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