CIFF 2012: The Art of Conflict

This documentary is about murals in Belfast, Ireland that have depicted the history and volatile emotions surround the hundreds of years of oppression that the Irish, especially those in the Belfast and Ulster regions, have felt under British rule. They depict scenes from the times of William of Orange to fairly current unrest (1980s). Made by Valeri Vaughn, the actor Vince Vaughn's sister, and he narrated.

The artwork (of the more recent unrest) often are paintings off of newspaper photographs, or memoralizations of the dead, whether they were militant rebels or innocent bystanders, or depicted whom they saw as enemies, such as Margaret Thatcher, or heroes, such as Bobby Sands. Depictions of older history show key battle scenes or moments of victory or defeat. Sometimes there are even paintings that show correlations to other civil uprisings, such as the Little Rock, Arkansas/Central High School conflict when schools were desegregated--comparing this to the time when a small group of Irish Protestant grade schoolers had to pass through a heavy Catholic community to get to school, and suffering an attack.

Murals are shown to be done with care, artistry, and maintained with respect (during Q&A the filmmakers and an attending muralist said that although it was unspoken, you would put your life in your hands if you dared deface a painting). Although many of the murals from the 1960-80s show hooded militants defending their turfs, in recent years government intrusion/reform have forced some of these murals to be painted over with new murals showing modern social problems such as drug abuse or things like that. Even though this was a way to try to deflate some of these long-standing emotions, the filmmakers admitted the Irish don't appreciate that the government is forcing this change, as it doesn't really change the emotions of the community.

The film ends in a hopeful note as two artists from opposite sides joined together to paint a version of Picasso's Guernica, an anti-war painting.

I found this a pretty fascinating facet of the Irish history. It made things like the film Hunger starring Michael Fassbender or some Irish songs I have heard more realistic and human, and not some distant history that doesn't personally affect me. While not all the artwork is artistically rendered, there is a lot of history that is being painted over, despite murals being in and of itself a temporary work. It also shows how these emotions are passed on to new generations although for the most part (or to me, as a distant, unrelated non-Irish) things can be calm and this divide seems to be based on old hatreds when the Irish can easily choose to end this.