Movie: The Crying Game (Neil Jordan, 1992)
Aside from the lads in Four Lions, Fergus (Stephen Rea) may be the least sutable terrorist recruit in cinema. He is not the quickest of wits, and neither the world's most physical guy nor its most passionate. He is also naive and easily manipulable. Everything that happens in the film is basically the consequence of him being led on to do something he either doesn't want to do, or wouldn't be doing if he used his brain. Rea plays Fergus as a kindhearted person, who genuinely wants to do good in the world, but doesn't know his place in it. It's as unwise to volunteer for the IRA when you don't have a firm grasp of your loyalties or your ideals, as it is to date a transgender person if you are unsure about your feelings and sexuality. In both cases, Fergus doesn't seem to have great commitment to the cause. It feels like he does things mostly because he accidentally stumbles into situations he doesn't know how to get out of, and wouldn't know what to do with his life even if he did.
I think this characterisation of Fergus is the strongest, most interesting part of the film. Which is also why it doesn't matter all that much if you know the big twist in advance (also it's not the only unexpected turn the movie takes), namely that Dil (Jaye Davidson) who presents herself as a woman, is a biological male. It's in retrospect quite amusing that the film's producers (led by Harvey Weinstein) made quite a show of telling critics and audiences not to spoil the twist, when it's an important plot point that Fergus should have been aware of what's going on. Besides that, the more subversive element of the film may be that Fergus' obsession with Jody (Forest Whitaker), a British cricket-loving soldier who dies in the IRA-plot Fergus botches, is the reason he seeks out Dil in the first place. It's relatively ambiguous to what extent Fergus is still attracted to Dil after finding out the truth about her. On the other hand, he takes up a job as a construction worker next to a cricket field, and wakes up in the middle of the night in cold sweat after dreams of a cozily-dressed Forest Whitaker pitching at him. In any case, it's probably too easy to say this when you know the twist in advance, and when you watch this film in 2023 when queer genders and sexualities are much more present in mainstream media, but from the moment Dil's on screen it seems pretty transparent what's going on. That's not a knock on the film, in fact, it only makes it more fun. It's clear how much it enjoys slowly giving you visual and narrative cues to build up to the big moment, though there are just a bit too many events in the film which sacrifice belevable characterisation for smooth storytelling.
That smooth storytelling is in great hands though. Jordan is a great director who effortlessly turns his film from a hostage thriller into a romantic drama, and then into lurid pulp. Near the end, there is a sequence crosccuting between an IRA assasination plot and the central confict between Dil and Fergus, that is filled with so much tension, surprise and original character beats, it's a reminder of why a good Hollywood mainstream thriller can be the ideal of movie fun. It also makes the way over-the-top ending much more palatable than it would have otherwise been. It's helped by Miranda Richardson, who finds great delight in injecting her flirty, resourcesful IRA asssasin with a huge dash of 90's ironic cool. Jim Broadbent too deserves a shout out for his small role. He plays his characterstic kindly, somewhat corny, working class father figure, portraying a waiter in the bar Dil and her friends attend. He mostly serves as msidrection - focusing on him you may miss that this is not the kind of bar folks like him tend to attend -, but still manages in his brief time to give his character a compelling inner life.
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