Breaking ‘Kneecap’: How a Music Biopic Born From an ‘All-Night Bender’ Became One of Ireland’s Most Important Films (and a Likely Oscars Contender)
By Alex Ritman, Variety | “Has anyone worn a tracksuit to the Oscars?” It’s not a question Naoise O’ Cairealláin — one-third of the fast-rising Irish-language hip-hop group Kneecap, who is better known by his stage name Móglaí Bap — ever thought he’d be asking. But with “Kneecap,” the anarchic semi-fictitious biopic in which he plays his perma-tracksuited self, gaining momentum ahead of its U.S. release on Aug. 2 and poised to become Ireland’s international feature submission for the 2025 Academy Awards, whether he should don his trademark attire to the ceremony isn’t too unreasonable a consideration.
“We could do black tracksuits with white ties,” suggests bandmate JJ O Dochartaigh (aka DJ Próvaí), who is also wondering about the Irish-tricolored balaclava he’s rarely seen without (and has on for much of the film). “But we’d try to bring the RUC jeep to the Oscars with us.”
RUC stands for Royal Ulster Constabulary, Northern Ireland’s controversial former state police force that patrolled Belfast throughout the Troubles until 2001 and was accused of sectarianism and brutality, mostly toward the Catholic and Irish nationalist communities Kneecap grew up in (and rap about). The jeep in question is currently parked outside central Galway’s Galmont Hotel, where the band — named after the IRA practice of shooting drug dealers in the knees — are speaking to Variety over a somewhat clichéd pint of Guinness.
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The van is both part-time tour bus and motorized political statement. Two Palestinian flags are fixed to the front (Kneecap say they’ve long been supporters of the Palestinian cause and are known to take part in protests, call for a “Free Palestine” on stage and post on social media about the war in Gaza). It’s also adorned with several stickers declaring “England Get Out of Ireland” (lovingly applied earlier in the day by Próvaí), plus foreboding steel grills over the windscreen and front lights and an Irish flag hanging from the roof, on which is also fitted a cage containing a (fake) police video camera. For a sleepy Tuesday morning on the west coast of Ireland, it makes for an eye-catching sight. How it might go down anywhere near Hollywood Blvd. is another matter entirely.
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Go here to read more about this documentary:
https://variety.com/2024/film/global/kneecap-film-ireland-wildest-important-oscars-contender-1236084843/
Breaking ‘Kneecap’: How a Music Biopic Born From an ‘All-Night Bender’ Became One of Ireland’s Most Important Films (and a Likely Oscars Contender)
