Blending concert scenes, comedy and thriller modes, this is a largely rapturous dramatisation of the rise of the Belfast-based hip-hop group as they seek to reclaim the Irish language from the oppressive British authorities.

---

---

This Oscar submission for Best International Feature by Ireland is one of the dark horses in the final shortlisting race. 

The debut narrative feature by Rich Peppiatt, Kneecap is a biographical dramatisation of a real-life Belfast-based hip-hop group that rose to prominence in 2017 for their hard-hitting rap pieces with Irish Republican themes. 

And guess what, they are played by the trio themselves, something that I only found out after seeing the film.  What a surprise that was to me, and it led me to think: wow, these musicians can legit have a second career in acting. 

With the riveting performances on showmanship display, these ‘musician-actors’ have enough chemistry to light up every scene they are in. 

Coupled with Peppiatt’s high-intensity music video style of filmmaking, Kneecap is a largely rapturous affair that blends concert scenes, comedy and even thriller modes together in an attempt to fire an anti-establishment bullet into the hearts of the British authorities who are trying to clamp down on the Irish language. 

“A country without a language is only half a nation.”

Speak English, as the people in power demand, but a movement to reclaim the Irish language becomes amplified by Kneecap’s efforts to integrate Irish lyrics in their rap. 

While some might lament the group members’ politically incorrect actions, as well as the unhealthy reliance on drugs to fuel their creative escapades (Peppiatt shows us their psychedelic effects in several amusing surreal moments), Kneecap manages to somewhat ground itself in the sociopolitical conditions of systemic oppression. 

Michael Fassbender has a small, supporting role, adding mysterious gravitas as an ex-Republican paramilitary member who faked his death to hide from the authorities, playing the father of one of Kneecap’s group members. 

There is no doubt that language is a core part of who we are and where we belong.  With perceived political erasure comes social disgruntlement. 

In Singapore, screenings of Chinese dialect films in the cinemas are highly restricted due to the longstandingly archaic ‘Speak Mandarin Campaign’.  It is an insidious policy that has yet to be gotten rid of, which makes something like Kneecap, though it may be worlds apart, all the more resonant in an implicitly defiant way.

Grade: B+

---

Trailer:

Music: