Ken Loach's 1990 film Hidden Agenda marks the first of three collaborations for the big screen with socialist playwright Jim Allen, with whom Loach had previously worked for the BBC. Unusually for Loach, who is best known for gritty socialist dramas, Hidden Agenda is a thriller. Loach and Allen's political bias is evident throughout, with slightly controversial results, but as a thriller in its own right it proves rather effective.
Set in Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles, Hidden Agenda sees American human rights lawyer Paul Sullivan assassinated after receiving a tape recording from an ex-army intelligence officer. British police officer Peter Kerrigan is sent to Belfast to investigate and - with the help of Sullivan's friend Ingrid Jessner - gradually uncovers not a tangled web of police brutality and cover-ups, but also a conspiracy leading to the heart of the British Government. It's quite gripping and constantly intriguing, although by the end it has wandered firmly into the realm of conspiracy theories. It also blatantly shows off both Allen and Loach's political biases right from the opening quotation by James Fintan Lalor ("The entire ownership of Ireland, moral and material, up to the sun and down to the centre, is vested of right in the people of Ireland"), placing the blame for the Troubles solely at the feet of the British Government, whilst suggesting that a security service that operates outside the law brought down the previous Labour Government and installed Margaret Thatcher in Downing Street to support its own needs. It makes for interesting fiction, but it's unsurprising that when the film was first released one critic described it as "IRA propaganda".
But it remains, nevertheless, a strong piece of filmmaking. Loach proves more than a competent to direct a thriller, from Sullivan's brutal assassination, to the growing sense of paranoia as Kerrigan discovers just who was really behind his assassination and why. Interestingly, Loach eschews conventional thriller techniques, sticking to his usual matter-of-act style; even if he and cinematographer Clive Tickner aren't quite aiming for the docu-drama vibe of some of his earlier television work, its influence is still felt, notably during Sullivan's murder and Harris' final abduction. More in keeping with thriller conventions is the excellent incidental score composed by Stewart Copeland of the Police.
Typically for Loach, the film is shot entirely on location, mostly in Belfast, but also in Dublin and England, which adds a further air of gritty realism. Brief of moments of violent action aside, Allen's screenplay is very dialogue heavy rather than action oriented, which suits Loach's style and proves riveting, notably during Sergeant Kennedy's interrogation and Kerrigan's fascinating and highly charged conversation with the scheming Sir Robert Neil and Alec Nevin, as they justify abuse of power for the greater good.
Relatively unusually for Loach, the film has a high profile cast led by Frances McDormand as Ingrid Jessner, Brian Cox as Peter Kerrigan and Brad Dourif as Paul Sullivan, and also includes familiar British and Irish actors such as Maurice Roëves' as Harris, Bernard Archard as Sir Robert Neil, and Jim Norton as Brodie. All the performances are excellent, especially those of Cox and McDormand. The film ends pessimistically: Kerrigan and Jessner lose - Kerrigan is blackmailed into silence and the tape dismissed as a forgery, whilst Harris is murdered by British Intelligence and the IRA blamed. The film ends with another quotation, this time from ex-MI5 agent James Miller, which states "There are two laws running this country: one for the security services and one for the rest of us." It sums up the film's key point, but whether this reflects reality or Allen and Loach's paranoia is an issue that audiences may find divisive. Nevertheless, Hidden Agenda remains one of Loach's slickest and most gripping efforts.
Set in Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles, Hidden Agenda sees American human rights lawyer Paul Sullivan assassinated after receiving a tape recording from an ex-army intelligence officer. British police officer Peter Kerrigan is sent to Belfast to investigate and - with the help of Sullivan's friend Ingrid Jessner - gradually uncovers not a tangled web of police brutality and cover-ups, but also a conspiracy leading to the heart of the British Government. It's quite gripping and constantly intriguing, although by the end it has wandered firmly into the realm of conspiracy theories. It also blatantly shows off both Allen and Loach's political biases right from the opening quotation by James Fintan Lalor ("The entire ownership of Ireland, moral and material, up to the sun and down to the centre, is vested of right in the people of Ireland"), placing the blame for the Troubles solely at the feet of the British Government, whilst suggesting that a security service that operates outside the law brought down the previous Labour Government and installed Margaret Thatcher in Downing Street to support its own needs. It makes for interesting fiction, but it's unsurprising that when the film was first released one critic described it as "IRA propaganda".
But it remains, nevertheless, a strong piece of filmmaking. Loach proves more than a competent to direct a thriller, from Sullivan's brutal assassination, to the growing sense of paranoia as Kerrigan discovers just who was really behind his assassination and why. Interestingly, Loach eschews conventional thriller techniques, sticking to his usual matter-of-act style; even if he and cinematographer Clive Tickner aren't quite aiming for the docu-drama vibe of some of his earlier television work, its influence is still felt, notably during Sullivan's murder and Harris' final abduction. More in keeping with thriller conventions is the excellent incidental score composed by Stewart Copeland of the Police.
Typically for Loach, the film is shot entirely on location, mostly in Belfast, but also in Dublin and England, which adds a further air of gritty realism. Brief of moments of violent action aside, Allen's screenplay is very dialogue heavy rather than action oriented, which suits Loach's style and proves riveting, notably during Sergeant Kennedy's interrogation and Kerrigan's fascinating and highly charged conversation with the scheming Sir Robert Neil and Alec Nevin, as they justify abuse of power for the greater good.
Relatively unusually for Loach, the film has a high profile cast led by Frances McDormand as Ingrid Jessner, Brian Cox as Peter Kerrigan and Brad Dourif as Paul Sullivan, and also includes familiar British and Irish actors such as Maurice Roëves' as Harris, Bernard Archard as Sir Robert Neil, and Jim Norton as Brodie. All the performances are excellent, especially those of Cox and McDormand. The film ends pessimistically: Kerrigan and Jessner lose - Kerrigan is blackmailed into silence and the tape dismissed as a forgery, whilst Harris is murdered by British Intelligence and the IRA blamed. The film ends with another quotation, this time from ex-MI5 agent James Miller, which states "There are two laws running this country: one for the security services and one for the rest of us." It sums up the film's key point, but whether this reflects reality or Allen and Loach's paranoia is an issue that audiences may find divisive. Nevertheless, Hidden Agenda remains one of Loach's slickest and most gripping efforts.