Kneecap happy to take on establishment as film premieres

In 1971, American troubadour Gil Scott-Heron released The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.

On the track, Scott-Heron alludes to all of society’s ills and how mass media is only making people blind to the injustices of the world.

Later in the decade, The Spirit Of 77 forever changed rock music when the likes of The Clash and The Sex Pistols challenged societal norms in a languishing Britain and gave an apathetic generation their soundtrack.

Closer to home, the likes of the Wolfe Tones and Christy Moore painted lyrical pictures of a society that turned the other way and failed to confront the issues they believed plagued Ireland at the time.

In Smithfield, that ethos of taking on the establishment, as it were, and hijacking it was incredibly prevalent as Kneecap premiered their film to the masses.

Arriving in an RUC wagon, the Belfast hip-hop trio waved the Palestine flag and posed for pictures in front of their transport.

As the gathered press took photos, Móglaí Bap remarked “aren’t you lot going to ask any questions? I’ll ask then. What’s the capital of Latvia?”

Soon the red carpet festivities began, and a veritable who’s who of the Irish cultural scene appeared.

Folk icon Christy Moore, Game Of Thrones star Liam Cunningham, Oscar nominee Stephen Rea and singer-songwriter Damian Dempsey were among some of the stars to turn out for Kneecap’s big outing at the Lighthouse cinema in Smithfield.

Co-star Michael Fassbender was not present for the red carpet premiere, but one suspects the Oscar nominee would have been overshadowed by the sheer cheeky and chaotic charisma of the Kneecap crew.

Kneecap aren’t exactly a group that gets airplay on 2FM or gets prominence in Spotify playlists (it would take an exceptionally brave playlist maker to put a song called Get Your Brits Out on the radio alongside the latest from Taylor Swift) but Kneecap have, somewhat improbably, rode a wave of controversy from the streets of Belfast to a film that will serve as Ireland’s Oscar entry this year.

Ireland received its first-ever nomination in the Best International Feature category last year with An Cailín Ciúin, marking a watershed moment in Irish cinema.

Recent winners in the category include Bong Joon Ho’s historic Best Picture winner Parasite, Japanese masterpiece Drive My Car, Netflix’s All Quiet On The Western Front remake and Danish comedy Another Round.

This year’s winner in the category went to Jonathan Glazer’s singular The Zone Of Interest, with the British director using his acceptance speech as an opportunity to denounce Israel’s actions amid the ongoing war and refuting his Judaism, stating that his beliefs were being “hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people.”

Should Kneecap make its way to the Oscars next year, it will find itself in esteemed, like-minded company.

The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, and since then the film has taken on a life of its own – to the surprise of the people involved with the film.

The film most recently took home the top prize at the Galway Film Fleadh, and has received nominations at the likes of the Sydney International Film Festival and the South By South West Festival in Texas.

Director Rich Peppiatt, a journalist in a past life, explained that he spent six months with the band before actually calling “action” on the film.

“I suppose being a journalist never leaves you,” he remarked.

Peppiatt, who was an executive producer on the 2018 documentary Who Killed The KLF?, said that working with Kneecap was appealing to him thanks to his past work with exploring The KLF (or as readers with a longer memory may recall, the band that had a string of big hits, burnt a million pounds to make an artistic statement, and were never seen again.)

Peppiatt said his anarchist background meant that he gelled well with the Kneecap crew.

“You know, my favourite band growing up was Rage Against The Machine so I guess that kind of ethos never really lost its appeal for me.” 

The film, by Peppiatt’s own admission, takes inspiration from Trainspotting (which has been noted by critics both in Ireland and abroad) and perhaps more out of left field, the 2001 French arthouse favourite Amélie.

He said that the film was looking to emulate that specific brand of 90s rawness and danger seen in the likes of Trainspotting, but also showing a more expressionistic touch seen in the likes of Amélie.

The film is receiving the widest-ever release for an Irish language film, something which the Kneecap members wear with a badge of honour.

Kneecap consists of Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí, and the band members play fictionalised versions of themselves in the movie (or, to put it another way, a slightly more heightened version of SpiceWorld).

Eminem’s 2002 drama 8 Mile has also been used as a reference point among critics, and it’s easy to see the comparisons; rappers playing themselves in a semi-biography, with a big Hollywood star thrown into the mix.

The film tells the story of how the group formed and subsequently thrived in a changing Belfast.

The sight of the Kneecap boys walking the red carpet revealed that the group are natural performers; they knew they had a captive audience and were willing to lap up every last morsel of attention given to them.

A fellow journalist asks a member of the group which act are they most excited to see at Electric Picnic later this month.

“Kneecap,” Móglaí Bap dryly replies.

Mó Chara was asked if he was inspired by the likes of Ice Cube or DMX in making the leap from rapping to the silver screen.

“I’d say our biggest inspirations are ourselves,” Mo Chara remarked.

Another member of the press corps asks what was it like to work with Michael Fassbender.

“Ah sure, he was delighted to work with us.”

We enquire about if the presence of Michael Fassbender changed the mood among the group.

For once, the mask briefly slips.

“Everyone upped their game when he came on board,” Móglaí Bap recalls.

“We definitely learned a lot from him and we asked him so many questions about how he made it in Hollywood. Even the catering staff upped their game when Fassbender was on set, so that meant we actually got to eat a proper meal for once.”

Mo Chara says he “wasn’t surprised” that the film has taken on a life of its own, saying that the idea of a native language being diminished by a foreign country is something that is nearly universal.

Asked if he foresaw the Irish language seeing a boost as a result of the film, he said “Duolingo owes us at least 10% for the amount of traffic we’ve driven to them!”.

Kneecap is in Irish cinemas now.