The Siege of Jadotville (film)

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The Siege of Jadotville
Siege of Jadotville Netflix poster.jpg
Netflix release poster
Directed byRichie Smyth
Written by Kevin Brodbin
Produced by
  • Kevin Brodbin
  • Alan Moloney
  • Ruth Coady
  • Johanna Hogan
  • Justin Moore-Lewy
Starring
CinematographyNikolaus Summerer
Edited byAlex Mackie
Music by Joseph Trapanese
Distributed by Netflix
Release dates
  • 10 July 2016 (2016-07-10)(Galway Film Festival)
  • 19 September 2016 (2016-09-19)(Ireland)
  • 7 October 2016 (2016-10-07)(Worldwide)
Running time
108 minutes
CountriesIreland
South Africa
LanguageEnglish [1]

The Siege of Jadotville is a 2016 action-war film directed by Richie Smyth [2] and written by Kevin Brodbin. An Irish-South African production, the film is based on Declan Power's book, The Siege at Jadotville: The Irish Army's Forgotten Battle (2005), about an Irish Army unit's role in the titular Siege of Jadotville during the United Nations Operation in the Congo in September 1961, [3] part of the Congo Crisis that stretched from 1960 to 1965.

Contents

First screened at the 2016 Galway Film Festival, [4] the film received a limited cinema distribution in Ireland in September 2016. [5] It had simultaneous worldwide distribution on Netflix and in a number of US iPic Theaters during October 2016. [6] [7] It won three Irish Film & Television Awards, including Best Director.

Plot

The film opens with the execution of Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba and the outbreak of civil war. As the mineral rich State of Katanga secedes under the leadership of Moise Tshombe, United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld assigns Conor Cruise O'Brien to head up a UN peacekeeping mission. Privately, Hammarskjöld tells O'Brien that the Katanga crisis could potentially trigger World War III and orders the Irish diplomat to take offensive action.

Meanwhile, Irish Army Commandant Pat Quinlan commands an infantry company of Irish peacekeepers who arrive at the UN compound near Jadotville. After examining the compound, Quinlan decides that it is wide open to attack and orders his men to dig trenches and defensive fighting positions.

While buying food in the nearest town, Quinlan meets French mercenary Rene Faulques, who has been hired by the mining companies allied to Tshombe's government. Afterwards, he visits the estate of a Belgian colonist, Madam LaFongagne, who tells him that Jadotville contains the world's richest uranium deposits.

Meanwhile, O'Brien orders UN forces to launch an attack against Government buildings held by the Katangese in Elizabethville. While Indian peacekeepers are attempting to seize the city's radio station, 30 unarmed Katangese radio operators and employees are killed by gunfire and grenades. O'Brien orders the incident to be swept under the rug.

In retaliation, Faulques receives orders to attack Jadotville. Katangese forces and mercenaries under Faulques' command attack and besiege the Irish. During a brief ceasefire, Faulques vainly demands Quinlan's surrender.

Quinlan refuses, and his company is attacked repeatedly in separate waves by the Katangese and mercenary forces. They kill a total of 300 enemy soldiers, and wound 1,000 enemy soldiers, with zero deaths and only 16 wounded for the Irish. Irish, Swedish and Indian UN peacekeepers attempt to reinforce "A" Company but are repelled by separatists. An effort to supply water and evacuate the wounded troops by helicopter fails as separatists shoot down the helicopter.

After numerous extended attack waves, the Irish company is forced to surrender to Faulques's troops after running out of ammunition, food, and drinking water. They are held in a Katangese prison for about a month, then are freed in a prisoner exchange deal and allowed to go home. After arriving home, Quinlan is informed by General McEntee that "A" Company's surrender causes shame to the UN and the higher ups want to bury the truth of the siege for political reasons. Only in 2005 did a full review of the siege clear the soldiers' reputations.

Selected cast

In addition, Guillaume Canet portrays Rene Faulques, commander of the Katangese attacking force at Jadotville.

Production

The film is based on Declan Power's non-fiction book, The Siege at Jadotville: The Irish Army's Forgotten Battle (2005). [8] [9] It covers the Siege of Jadotville, a conflict involving Irish Army UN Peacekeepers and Katangese forces during the Congo Crisis in September 1961. [5] [3]

The film was produced by an Irish production company, Parallel Films, for Netflix. [5] [10] Described as an "Irish/South African co-production", [10] some of the cast were put through a training camp in South Africa before filming. "There's nothing worse than watching actors acting like they're in an action movie, pretending to run upstairs with guns and look serious," said director Ritchie Smythe. "The best way to get them to do that realistically is just to train them to be soldiers, so I did." [11] Filming occurred at locations in South Africa and in Ireland during 2015. [12] [13]

Actor Jamie Dornan said the real veterans "didn't get the recognition they deserved. In fact the opposite. They got that term Jadotville Jacks. They have had to live with that and they appreciate any light that can be shone on their heroics." [14]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, as of 2022, the film had an approval rating of 64% based on 11 reviews. [15]

Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times called it "a gripping drama". [16] Keith Uhlich of The Hollywood Reporter described the battlefield scenes as an "impressive spectacle", but said that the non-battle scenes were less so, and the conclusions "too rushed". [17] Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times rated the film 50%, describing it as: "A scrappy war flick with a fair amount of combat suspense but a whole lot of clichéd dialogue". [18]

In an opinion piece published on livemint.com in April 2021, Swapna Kona Nayudu noted issues with how the role of Indian forces was represented in the movie, stating that while "Indians and the Congolese are shown supporting Irish and French forces [..] the truth was the other way around". [19]

Accolades

AwardsCategoryRecipientsResult
Irish Film & Television Awards [20] Best FilmThe Siege of JadotvilleNominated
Best DirectorRichie SmythWon
Best Script Kevin Brodbin Nominated
Best Actor Jamie Dornan Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Jason O'Mara Won
Best SoundThe Siege of JadotvilleNominated
VFXThe Siege of JadotvilleWon

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As part of the larger Congo Crisis (1960–64), the siege of Jadotville began on 13 September 1961, lasting for five days. While serving under the United Nations Operation in the Congo, a small contingent of the Irish Army's 35th Battalion, designated "A" Company, were besieged at the UN base near the mining town of Jadotville by Katangese forces loyal to the secessionist State of Katanga. The siege took place during the seven-day escalation of hostilities between ONUC and Katangese forces during Operation Morthor. Although the contingent of 155 Irish soldiers repelled attacks by a 3,000-strong Katangese force, they were eventually forced to surrender after running out of ammunition and water. "A" Company was subsequently held as prisoners of war for approximately one month, before being released on 15 October as part of a prisoner exchange. The Irish forces inflicted approximately 1,300 casualties on the Katangan force, with no deaths amongst "A" Company.

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References

  1. ↑ "THE SIEGE OF JADOTVILLE". British Board of Film Classification .
  2. ↑ "The Siege of Jadotville (2016)". IMDb. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  3. 1 2 "28th Galway Film Fleadh - July 2016 - The Siege of Jadotville". Galwayfilmfleadh.com. Archived from the original on 23 November 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  4. ↑ "Jamie Dornan's latest film wins standing ovation at Galway Film Fleadh". Irish Independent. 11 July 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 "'The Siege of Jadotville' to receive limited cinema release". Irish Times. 12 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  6. ↑ "First trailer of Siege of Jadotville is nail-biting". RTÉ. 10 September 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  7. ↑ "National Association of Theatre Owners Chief Sounds Alarm Over Netflix Deal With iPic". Variety. 5 October 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2016. [..] iPic [..has..] a theatrical foothold on 15 U.S. locations. That will be particularly important for Netflix films that need some kind of theatrical run to qualify for awards. IPic will release the war thriller "The Siege of Jadotville," starring Jamie Dornan ("Fifty Shades of Grey"), on Oct. 7
  8. ↑ "The True Story of the Heroic Battle That Inspired the New Netflix Film The Siege of Jadotville". Time Magazine. 27 July 2016. [...] author and military expert Declan Power, on whose book, Siege at Jadotville, the new movie is based.
  9. ↑ "Film 'Siege of Jadotville' to reveal heroism of Irish troops". Irish Times. 9 August 2014. [...] military writer Declan Power – on whose book, The Siege of Jadotville, the film will be based
  10. 1 2 "Parallel Films' "The Siege of Jadotville" to Star Jamie Dornan". iftn.ie. Irish Film & Television Network. 6 August 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  11. ↑ Saunders, Tristram Fane (7 October 2016). "'I really didn't want to see Jamie Dornan naked': The Siege of Jadotville's director on filming Ireland's secret war". The Telegraph.
  12. ↑ "Scriptwriter Kevin Brodbin on writing 'The Siege of Jadotville'". iftn.ie. Irish Film & Television Network. 23 September 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  13. ↑ "The Siege of Jadotville". irishpost.com. Irish Post. 13 September 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  14. ↑ Clarke, Donald (19 September 2016). "The Siege of Jadotville: How Ireland almost had its own Alamo". Irish Times.
  15. ↑ "The Siege of Jadotville". Rotten Tomatoes . Archived from the original on 4 February 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  16. ↑ Genzlinger, Neil (28 September 2016). "'The Siege of Jadotville' on Netflix Rediscovers a Faded Footnote". New York Times.
  17. ↑ Uhlich, Keith (6 October 2016). "'The Siege of Jadotville': TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter .
  18. ↑ Abele, Robert (6 October 2016). "Review: Forgotten battle told in 'The Siege of Jadotville'". Los Angeles Times .
  19. ↑ "India's under-appreciated role as sword arm of the UN". livemint.com. 28 April 2021.
  20. ↑ "IFTA FILM & DRAMA NOMINEES 2017". Irish Film and Television Academy . Retrieved 10 April 2017.
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