In June 2003, Reg Keys and his wife Sally return to their home in the Welsh countryside. As they switch on the TV to hear six military policemen have been murdered in Iraq, two men arrive bearing the terrible news that their son, Tom, was among them.
UK
UK
During the first years of the coalition, I was working in a care home for elderly and disabled people. One of the residents had a Daily Telegraph delivered every morning. The Telegraph in 2011 was not like the Telegraph I read growing up, that rare right-wing paper whose journalistic standards I respected. Nor was it like the Telegraph now, whose editorial stance on the Conservatives seems to be along the lines of Doctor Frankenstein lamenting his creation. It was the beast Private Eye lampooned as the Maily Telegraph, a daily propaganda sheet for Chairman Dave's glorious restructuring of British society. Day after day, as I worried about whether my job would survive the latest round of local council cuts (it…
Tony Blair is a lying, cheating cunt of a war criminal with blood on his hands.
I marched against the Iraq War and I left the Labour Party because of it. Like Hillsborough and Orgreave, I have hoped and prayed that one day the families of those soldiers who gave their lives during that unjust and illegal war receive the justice they deserve. Next month sees the findings of the Chilcot Report (with the families of the deceased expected to shell out £767 for a copy of their report - words literally fail me here) but, given that it took the Hillsborough campaigners 27 years to receive the justice they fought so hard for and that the miners at Orgreave…
A hard-hitting drama based on the real-life experience of Reg Keys, whose son Tom was killed during the conflict in Iraq. A Red Cap, murdered, needlessly, and without apology.
Written by Jimmy McGovern and Robert Pugh, it wastes no words or scenes and is economically devastating. Tim Roth is excellent as the grieving father who turns his turmoil into political action, while Anna Maxwell Martin does well as the mother.
This is uncomfortable viewing, and rightly so, and the type of television which must continue to be made to question the decisions, and the dishonesty, of those who find themselves in power.
With washed out colours and a welcome lack of any extraneous sound accompaniment (no intrusive or inappropriate musical soundtrack to drown out emotional scenes), this utilises flashbacks well and by having the protagonists not exploding into anger, makes the drama all the more powerful.
i dont have the cultural background to fully connect to or appreciate this, but it seems to have done its job. very sterile and straight-forward.
also its strange seeing tim roth so quiet, british, and ... normal ?
anyway can someone british please explain to me wtf taking a drink "white, no sugar" means
edit: link :)
"A 500-strong mob, armed to the teeth, baying for blood, came after my son, and he had 50 bullets, and no radio. Now I can accept that, just about. But if I find out this war didn't have to be fought, and he died for nothing... I will never accept that. I will never let that lie."
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They say you take away from stories what you bring to them.
And while I've never experienced exactly or directly the kind of tragedy that the Keys family - or any of the families of the British service men and women who were killed to fuel Tony Bloody Blair's lie-rooted war in Iraq - the opening 30 minutes of Reg were some…
The BBC are at it again when it comes to demonstrating its important role in British society, telling a powerful story that deserves to be told, as Welshman Reg Keys takes on Tony Blair in the General Election in response to his son being killed in the illegal Iraq War.
Handled by any other writer and Reg may have been jam-packed with rousing, chest-beating speeches, characters aggressively taking their frustrations out on inanimate objects, and long, self-reflecting walks in the British summertime rain. However, in the hands of Jimmy McGovern, Reg instead feels like you could be a fly on the wall, because aside from the cloudy cinematography the film nails realism, with wonderfully low key, heart-wrenching scenes, such as…
Incredibly sensitive portrayal of Reg Keys by Tim Roth but the narrative failed to flesh out his character in pivotal scenes that otherwise would have been hard hitting.
Reg Keys did what few people had the courage to do at the time. Stand up to Tony Blair and call him a war criminal. A conversation would have been enough for Reg, but Blair’s New Labour kowtowing to America’s post-9/11 authoritarian politics(that got his son killed) made him too busy. Good for Reg, embarrassing Tony to his face after he got re-elected. The bastard deserved to be skinned alive.
