Film “Kneecap” – “Kneecap” in the cinema: boom, ratchet, boing, bang

A father sits in his TV chair at home. Sitting in front of him on the carpet are two first-grade boys: one is his son, the other his best friend. The father holds a water pistol in his hands. The children have to recite words in Irish. Every time one of the two mispronounces something or doesn’t know the word being asked, the father points his gun at the child and sprays water in his face. There has to be punishment. Because the Irish language is important. It is, as we are told repeatedly throughout the film, the language of the oppressed and colonized by the British; the language that carries on Irish culture and tradition; the language that the colonizers want to be eradicated. “Every Irish word spoken is a bullet for the freedom of Ireland.”

To be British is to be evil, according to the father’s message. He is an Irish Republican “patriot”, an IRA militant who has been active for many years and who teaches the two children sitting in front of him to be stubborn. When they grow up, they should follow in his footsteps and drive the hated English out of the country. He has one last piece of advice for the two little boys before he disappears never to be seen again (because he has to go into hiding): “When you watch the Western on TV later, watch it from the perspective of the Indians.”

We are in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Brutalist social buildings from the seventies; There is graffiti on the walls demanding “Brits out!” And of course, all adolescents wear tracksuits all day long. Also the two boys, Naoise and Liam, who have now matured into young men. But they do not become IRA fighters, although as young drifters who are discriminated against and denounced as “low-life scum” (“dubious elements”, “scum”), they naturally do not have the best relationship with British civil servants and authorities. They have other interests, like most normal teenagers: ketamine, coke, MDMA, beer, sex, fun, techno raves. And not too close.

A young music teacher – he is also very open to the Irish cause and drug use – can convince the two of them to lead the fight against the British imperialists and for the Irish language from now on as a hip-hop combo that mixes youthful rebellion and stubbornness is concerned with the preservation of Ireland’s national heritage. »You have to imagine it like this: The Irish language is like the last dodo, vegetating locked up in a glass case. And we have to free him.” This convinces the two young dropouts, even though they don’t know who or what a dodo is at first. Whereupon the anti-imperialist music trio “Kneecap” was founded. The young music teacher, who wears a balaclava in the Irish national colors on stage, acts as the beatmaker. Oh well.

Are you interested in Northern Ireland and the Anglo-Irish Civil War? At least you should if you intend to watch this fast-paced comedy film. Otherwise you might miss one or two references. And I don’t mean the briefly seen poster with Margaret Thatcher’s likeness, which is apparently used instead of a dartboard when playing darts and which has an obscene drawing next to it. »What is Belfast known for? For explosions, George Best and kneecaps.” The militant Catholic nationalist liberation movement or terrorist organization (depending on your perspective) Irish Republican Army (IRA) used to punish traitors by shooting them through the kneecap.

A young music teacher can convince the two boys to lead the fight against the British imperialists and for the Irish language as a hip-hop combo.

Rich Peppiatt’s debut film is funny. And it is an energetic, visually over-the-top affair: frantic cutting sequences, manipulation of the film’s playback speed, lettering and other doodles popping up in the film image, even a split-screen scene, suddenly appearing claymation film sequences and all sorts of other gimmicks, such as the cheerful combination of sequences of images, reproduce the intoxicating experience with those that reproduce the (filmic) level of reality. Boom, ratchet, boing, bang. The process here was based on the motto: Make it a little louder and faster. All that’s missing is continued breaking of the fourth wall. The viewer is constantly exposed to hip-hop beats plus agitation poetry. Formally, this is nothing new, but compared to the official-like, lethargic handling of camera and editing that we know from most German films, what we’re dealing with here is the purest coke- and ketamine-fueled rush of images, which is why reviewers like the film was compared in an inflationary way to Danny Boyle’s 90s classic “Trainspotting”. This used to be called the music video aesthetic. And of course: Peppiatt used to make music videos. Logically, “fuck”, “shit” and “cunt” are often said here. The Belfast rap trio Kneecap actually exists. In the film, which tells the bizarre origin story of the band, it hilariously plays itself and does not forego self-mythologizing.

The mix of band biopic and comedy has won several awards so far and is Ireland’s entry for the upcoming Oscars in the “Best International Feature Film” category.

At the end, the credits refer for what feels like the hundredth time to the message that has been repeated throughout the film: “Every 40 days, an indigenous language dies out somewhere in the world.” Let us hope that the film will not be an inspiration for Sorbian or Swabian young people looking for identity .

»Kneecap«, United Kingdom/Irland 2024. Regie und Buch: Rich Peppiatt. Mit: Naoise Ó Cairrelláin, Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, JJ Ó Dochartaigh, Josie Walker, Fionnuala Flaherty, Jessica Reynolds, Adam Best, Simone Kirby, Michael Fassbender. 105 min. Jetzt im Kino.