Director: Rich Peppiatt
Writers: Rich Peppiatt, Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara, DJ Próvai
Starring: Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara, DJ Próvai, Josie Walker
Rated: R for pervasive drug content and language, sexual content/nudity and some violence
Synopsis: When fate brings Belfast schoolteacher JJ into the orbit of self-confessed ‘low life scum’ Naoise & Liam Og, the needle drops on a hip-hop act like no other. Rapping in their native Irish language, KNEECAP fast become the unlikely figureheads of a Civil Rights movement to save their mother tongue. But the trio must first overcome police, paramilitaries, and politicians trying to silence their defiant sound - whilst their anarchic approach to life often makes them their own worst enemies. In this fiercely original sex, drugs and hip-hop biopic KNEECAP play themselves, laying down a global rallying cry for the defense of native cultures.
Review: I don’t know if Kneecap purports to be a true story like Anton Corbijn’s Control, a film about Joy Division’s Ian Curtis, or if it is more akin to Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, a movie that is far more of fantasy than it is truth. Both are fantastic films.
Tonally, Kneecap feels more akin to 24 Hour Party People, the riotous comedy about Tony Wilson and the formation of Factory Records, merged with the middle-finger attitude of Alex Cox’s Sid and Nancy. Again, both are great films.
I suspect that there is a bit of creative license in Kneecap, but ultimately the film offers a fantastic job of explaining who Kneecap, the hip-hop group, are. It’s a chaotic mix of drugs, sex, drugs, Irish pride, drugs, hip-hop, and more drugs. It could also be a cautionary tale of what happens when an entire generation (or commonwealth) is convinced by politicians that they are hooligans who will never amount to anything. That’s probably me editorializing.
Kneecap stars Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap, and DJ Próvai as themselves. While this might be detrimental for some biopics, the trio are charismatic and more than adequate to actors. All that really matters is that they keep pace with the likes of Simon Kirby and Michael Fassbender.
To be completely honest, I passed on seeing Kneecap at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. I have an affinity for many music biopics, but I wasn’t convinced that I’d enjoy a film about Northern Ireland hip-hop artists. I just wasn’t interested. Having seen the film, I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I didn’t connect with the characters, their music, drug use, or just about anything outside of the film’s spirit. The sense of creating purpose for oneself and forging a way forward when the world gives you roadblocks.
