Rapping for the Irish language

     

  The Irish rap group Kneecap anchors its message in language. The group’s three members — Naoise O Caireallain, aka Moglai Bap; Liam Og O hAnnaidh; aka Mo Chara, and JJ O Dochartaigh, aka DJ Provai— portray themselves in Kneecap, a movie that uses Irish Gaelic as a free-spirited emblem of independence.

   Writer/director Rich Pappiatt creates a fictionalized portrait of the group. Staunch advocates of all things Irish, the Belfast-based rappers come off as a new generation of revolutionaries, drawing their energy from a potent blend of irreverence and defiance.

   Two of the group’s members are introduced as drug dealers, giving the movie a decidedly bad-boy vibe. DJ Povai, who handles the group's beats, plays an Irish language and music teacher who discovers his calling in rap.

   Provai frequently appears wearing an orange-green-and-white balaclava, colors of the Irish flag and an expression of hope for Irish unification. 

   In a brief but ultimately affecting performance, Michael Fassbender portrays Moglai Bap's dad, a member of the IRA who we're led to believe was killed by the British during the Troubles. A persistent cop (Josie Walker) believes Fassbender's Arlo has gone into hiding.

   You may not agree with every item on the group's political agenda, but much of the film has been tailored to speak to disaffected young people -- in this case, Irish Republicans who want unity between the north and south.

  Seasoned with a hip-hop version of a Romeo-and-Juliet style romance (Catholic and Protestant) and dark currents provided by an Irish liberation organization that opposes the group's shameless drug use, Kneecap's creative flourishes include English versions of the lyrics splashed across the screen, as well as a bit of animation. 

   I'll let others judge the music, but the rappers turn in credible, often funny, performances that are rooted in the culture they ardently represent and which, in a way, they're helping to invent.

   I don't know whether Kneecap, which had its premiere at last January's Sundance Film Festival, will appeal to American audiences.

    For the most part, I saw it as a sharply irreverent portrait of young Irishmen fighting their war with words and hard-core attitudes rather than bullets. I suppose we should view that as a form of progress.