This early feature, shot in Twickenham, begins with Robert Emmet trying to persuade Napoleon to invade and lift the English yoke, and ends with a a title of "Ireland Today", a shot of the Statue of Liberty, and an old man with a child on his knee, talking, talking, talking. To me it looks like a series of self-inflicted grievances, although there is no doubt in my mind that this is a case of people knowing the story before they see it on screen. I clearly lack that context.
Now that the Troubles are behind us - for the moment, anyhow - we can see this propaganda film for just that. Trying to track it is difficult. Its only release cited in the IMDb is the US in September of 1914. Did it play in Ireland? Was it intended for the Irish-American market, which was a major source of IRA funding at least through the 1960s? How did they film this in England, with some sizable crowds, with a government taking aim at the film industry for its own propaganda purposes?
Now that the Troubles are behind us - for the moment, anyhow - we can see this propaganda film for just that. Trying to track it is difficult. Its only release cited in the IMDb is the US in September of 1914. Did it play in Ireland? Was it intended for the Irish-American market, which was a major source of IRA funding at least through the 1960s? How did they film this in England, with some sizable crowds, with a government taking aim at the film industry for its own propaganda purposes?
