Starting This Project
Okay, so people kept asking "Where do I even begin learning about The Troubles?" especially after hearing my rant about oversimplified takes online. Felt annoying, honestly. Everyone wants quick answers, but real history is messy, right? Decided to just make a damn list myself. Not claiming it's perfect, just what worked for me to grasp the basics without feeling totally lost.
Diving Headfirst Into Research
My method was basically: dig like crazy. Didn't trust top 10 lists floating around because most just listed famous films. Wanted stuff that showed the reality, the grit, the grey areas. Started lurking in academic threads, reading angry comments from people actually from Belfast or Derry, even checked out old BBC docs from the 70s that aren't glamorous at all. Just raw footage.
The Frustrating Bits
Man, figuring out the order was painful. Watched over 20 films easily in a few weeks. Got overwhelmed fast. Found some "big name" movies completely skipped crucial context, focusing only on the explosions and not the simmering tension for decades before. Almost chucked my laptop. Kept notes on index cards like a mad librarian. Had to force myself to stop reading political pamphlets online – those rabbit holes are bottomless.
Narrowing It Down & Why
The key became finding films showing different angles. Needed ones covering:
- Ordinary lives falling apart (not just paramilitary guys)
- The British side (like, the soldiers being teenagers terrified out of their minds)
- The deep-seated community distrust (generations of suspicion)
- Documentaries that didn't sugarcoat
- Complications of finding peace (the bitter compromises)
Couldn't just pick the "best films" cinematically. My goal was understanding the conflict's roots and messy reality, not awarding Oscars.
The Final Ten & My Process
Eventually, landed on these ten. Watched each one twice, minimum. Took notes on what specific piece of the puzzle it helped unlock for me. Like, one doc finally made sense of why internment exploded everything. A drama showed the suffocating fear in Catholic neighborhoods in a way history books didn't.
- '71 - Pure, chaotic terror from a soldier's POV. Shows how fast things spun out of control. Sweated buckets watching this.
- Hunger - Not an easy watch. Brutal. But you feel the absolute desperation and cost of resistance inside the Maze.
- Some Mother's Son - Gut punch about the human cost, mothers caught in impossible binds. Cried. Simple as that.
(Kept the full list private for the main post, but you get the gist. Mix of drama and harsh doccos.)
Biggest Takeaway (Spoiler: It's Not Simple)
After all this? There is no clean "good guy vs bad guy". Every film added more layers of complexity. The fear was contagious. The distrust was ancient. Decisions made out of desperation looked crazy later. Made me realize why people still argue so bitterly about it. Felt like I scrubbed off years of lazy stereotypes.
Would I Recommend This?
Yeah, but warn people: This isn't fun movie night. It's homework for your soul. Start slowly, maybe one film a week. Read a bit after, let it settle. Don't expect neat answers. That government worker gig I mentioned? This project partly happened because old documents I processed felt disturbingly relevant to that era's tension. History echoes, man. Found that out the hard way watching these.
