The first surprise that pleased me with this movie is that it shows why Ireland is called the green island ! It's really incredible to see how the soil looks like a gigantic green carpet. The second good surprise is too see that Brian Cox is a terrific actor. I don't remember to have seen him in my previous 840 movies and he's really good ! For sure, I can also praise Frances but there, it's not a surprise since « Mississippi burning ». The definitive surprise of this really good movie is its message. At first, I understood it was about the troubles of Ireland and how England tried to answer by brutality. But then, the movie takes a sharp turn and becomes a study about modern democracy. And if the movies punches hard, a quarter of century later, its analysis rings even more true : it says that democracy is a fake front : power doesn't belong to the sovereign people but to a leech privileged cast that just crave for status quo. Their fake democratic tool is called « public order », « national security » and their fake scapegoat are called « terrorist », « demonstrator »
Their cunning is so acute that they manipulate / help those undemocratic adversaries to achieve unbelievable, fantastic mess. Then, to save the day and keeping the status quo, they can justify their drastic measures. Indeed this hidden agenda is clearly demonstrated in the movie and in every national tragedy since ! In a way, this movie can help to open the eyes and it should be shown in classes to have aware citizens !
Review of Hidden Agenda
