"The Irish in Film"

"The Crying Game" (1992), the second movie in the Irish film series, will be shown on October 9th. Directed by Neil Jordan, the film deals with gender roles, race, nationalism, Britain's presence in Northern Ireland, and the IRA's efforts to drive them out. Stephen Rea plays Fergus, an IRA volunteer, who rejects the violence associated with the cause and its highly-charged masculine world. Jude (Miranda Richardson), an aggressive IRA member, kidnaps Jody (Forest Whitaker) a Caribbean British soldier stationed in the North. Fergus bonds with Jody and when he escapes, Fergus can't shoot him. Fergus goes to London to look up Jody's lover, Dil (Jayne Davison), a transvestite, and takes on Jody's former role of Dil's protector. Like Jody, Fergus develops a romantic relationship with Dil, and discovers a new sense of male identity. Jordan's psychological thriller explores the ambiguous boundaries in love and war.