ABOVE AVERAGE
This limited series did not go unnoticed by those whose lives are depicted in it. Michael McConville, son of the most famous murder victim of the story, was angry with Disney for producing the drama, calling it ”cruel”. Marian Price, identified in both the original book and the series as one of those responsible for the murder, said she would sue Disney. There is peace in Northern Ireland now, but in some cases the wounds still feel quite fresh.
Abducted in front of her children
It all begins in 1972 with the abduction of Jean McConville. A group of masked men showed up in her Belfast home and took her away, in front of her children. No one knew why or what happened to her, but there had been talk about her. Was she a ”tout”, an informer, selling information to the Brits about the IRA for money?
The story moves back a few years and introduces us to the Price sisters, Dolours and Marian. Unlike their father, they didn’t initially believe in violence as a method against the British oppressors, but that soon changed. In 1971, they joined the IRA and became soldiers in the cause. Their most daring venture became a trip to London where they helped organize a series of car bombings, injuring hundreds of people. The struggle continued in prison…
A culture of silence
The Troubles is a period that still fascinates us and this series is a brilliant example of how it can be explored in depth, in ways that are fair and engaging. Patrick Radden Keefe’s book was a sensation in 2018, using one of the painful disappearances in the history of the armed revolt against British authorities in Northern Ireland as the focal point of a wider portrait of IRA and how the terror organization functioned, not least its culture of silence and what happened if you showed disloyalty.
This miniseries takes us to one of the worst periods where everyone was on the losing end of the conflict, including the British military, which brought in Brigadier Frank Kitson (played with steely determination by Rory Kinnear) to try to break the IRA leadership. We follow how the Price sisters got involved with bank robberies to fund the organization, how the 1973 London bombings were carried out and how they eventually won a battle with the British government after a horrendous hunger strike in prison, paying a high price that affected them for the rest of their lives. Four actresses play the sisters at different points in their lives and they are all very good, emphasizing the bond between Marian and Dolours, making us understand them even as their crimes become more and more unforgivable.
The series also shows the close relationship between them and two leaders of the IRA, identified as Brendan Hughes and Gerry Adams. This has of course been denied by the latter ever since he decided to become a politician; it is part of a bitterly amusing irony that each episode of this series details Adams’s sinister deeds but has to end, for legal purposes, with a statement that Adams has always denied being a member of the IRA.
It also teaches us about the vicious methods of groups on both sides of similar conflicts.
It’s a convincing, darkly attractive series where the human drama is both moving and infuriating. At the same time, it also teaches us about the vicious methods of groups on both sides of similar conflicts, be they in Northern Ireland or Gaza, for example. The series makes sure that there is no path forward unless you ultimately reach the same conclusion as Gerry Adams did.
Say Nothing 2024-U.S. 399 min. Color. Created by Joshua Zetumer. Book: Patrick Radden Keefe. Cast: Lola Petticrew (Young Dolours Price), Maxine Peake (Older Dolours Price), Hazel Doupe (Young Marian Price), Helen Behan (Older Marian Price), Anthony Boyle, Josh Finan, Rory Kinnear.
Trivia: Originally shown in nine episodes.
Last word: “[Radden Keefe and I] were both really committed to doing it authentically. I think both as two Americans, we really felt the burden of getting the details right, and that was something that he really tried to do in crafting the book, and I was just fanatical about the research and fanatical about even the smallest details when telling the story. And so we had a real kinship to the point where people probably got sick of hearing about it, frankly.” (Zetumer, Indiewire)