"Hidden Agenda" was an enjoyable political thriller. The story was a somewhat typical Irish against the bloody English set in the late 1980's. The strength of the movie was in the fine acting by Frances McDormand, as usual, Brian Cox and many others. The ending some may find unsatisfactory. It tends to be open ended. I thought it provided much speculation on what Frances McDormand would do. I also thought it to be true to life.
28 Reviews
Like the layers of an onion, the more you peel away, the more you feel like crying
sol121818 August 2006
Warning: Spoilers
***SPOILERS*** Top notch political thriller set in Northern Ireland that goes well beyond the conflict in that troubled British controlled province and into the heart and policy making of the British Government itself. After American human rights activist Paul Sullivan, Brad Dourif, was gunned down together with his Irish contact Molloy, Brian McCann,by the British police outside of Dungannon an official inquiry is brought in on the case with high ranking British law enforcement officers Kerrigan & Maxwell, Brian Cox & John Benfield.
Kerrigan getting in touch with Sullivan's friend and colleague in the American human rights group Ingrid Jessner, Frances McDormand,finds out from her that Sullivan together with Molloy were to meet with this mysterious stranger Harris, Maurice Roeves. The meeting with Harris was to be about the authenticity of a tape he had made that was in the possession of Sullivan that seemed to have disappeared from the shooting sight.
Jessner get's some information from a secret I.R.A, which it turns out that the late Molloy was a member of,source that the tape contained such explosive information that if made public can unseat the Thatcher regime and bring a number of very high government officials to the bar of justice on charges of treason against the state. Jessner together with Kerrigan gets in touch with the author, Harris, of the incriminating tape at a secret I.R.A meeting hall in Belfast. It turns out that Harris is not only British but a former member of the super-secret UK intelligence agency M15. Harris tells both Jessner and Kerrigan that the deaths of Sullivan and Molloy wasn't, as the official report states, self-defense on the polices part but cold-blooded murder.
Harris goes on with what was on the missing tape that Sullivan had on him, that was not in the report. Harris revelations are so shocking that it get's the usual by the book Kerrigan to not only risk his career as a police officer but his life to uncover it. Top members of the British Government had created a shadow/agency answerable only to themselves. This secret agency helped to destroy the previous Edward Heath left to center Conservative Party that controlled Britian during the 1970's and had it replaced, by defeating Heath in the 1975 Conservative party's election, with the ultra-right wing Conservative Margerat Tatcher who's completely under their control. Forming secret death-squads these usurpers behind the throne, or Tatcher Regime, have been pulling off a number of political assassinations all over Britian, as well as in the Irish Republic. Their main purpose was to silence anyone they feel threatened by and if murder doesn't do the trick, like in the case of Officer Kerrigan, personal or political blackmail will.
The movie "Secret Agenda" get's a bit unbelievable with Kerrigan agreeing to go all the way in retrieving the important tape, that Harris duplicated, with Jessner. Kerrigan in effect chickens out at the last moment and leaves her out in the cold as he goes to his superiors in the British Police. Kerrigan tells them everything about his and Jessner's, who Kerrigan kept in the dark about all this, upcoming meeting with Harris who's to hand over the secret tape to them the next day at Dublin's O'Connell Bridge!
Jessner's meeting with Harris turns into a disaster with him being grabbed by M15 agents who were tipped off, in his being unknowingly double-crossed, by a very naive Kerrigan who should have known better! Beaten and handcuffed Harris is quickly put in a van where he's later shot and killed and his murder made to look like the work of the I.R.A.
During all this confusion Jessner gets away from the perusing M15 agents and is later confronted at the Belfast Airport, where she plans to get out of the country, by Kerrigan. Asking Jessner if she has the tape that Harris was to give to her Kerrigan get an unequivocal no answer from her and as both he and his partner Maxwell leave and Jessner goes on her flight back to the US the film goes into freeze-frame and ends.
Irgrid Jessner learned a lot from what she herself saw in Northern Ireland and heard from Harris & Co. The most important revelation that Jessner got from all that is never to trust anybody in government, including the very helpful at times Kerrigan.
Jessner in fact did have Harris' tape and listening to it in her car on the way to the airport made up her mind that the British people had been hoodwinked long enough. Whats more they deserves to know the truth about what their government is doing in their name and will make sure that they'll find that out by making the contents of Harris' tape public through the free and open American media: that's if they'll have both the guts and foresight to print or broadcast it!
Kerrigan getting in touch with Sullivan's friend and colleague in the American human rights group Ingrid Jessner, Frances McDormand,finds out from her that Sullivan together with Molloy were to meet with this mysterious stranger Harris, Maurice Roeves. The meeting with Harris was to be about the authenticity of a tape he had made that was in the possession of Sullivan that seemed to have disappeared from the shooting sight.
Jessner get's some information from a secret I.R.A, which it turns out that the late Molloy was a member of,source that the tape contained such explosive information that if made public can unseat the Thatcher regime and bring a number of very high government officials to the bar of justice on charges of treason against the state. Jessner together with Kerrigan gets in touch with the author, Harris, of the incriminating tape at a secret I.R.A meeting hall in Belfast. It turns out that Harris is not only British but a former member of the super-secret UK intelligence agency M15. Harris tells both Jessner and Kerrigan that the deaths of Sullivan and Molloy wasn't, as the official report states, self-defense on the polices part but cold-blooded murder.
Harris goes on with what was on the missing tape that Sullivan had on him, that was not in the report. Harris revelations are so shocking that it get's the usual by the book Kerrigan to not only risk his career as a police officer but his life to uncover it. Top members of the British Government had created a shadow/agency answerable only to themselves. This secret agency helped to destroy the previous Edward Heath left to center Conservative Party that controlled Britian during the 1970's and had it replaced, by defeating Heath in the 1975 Conservative party's election, with the ultra-right wing Conservative Margerat Tatcher who's completely under their control. Forming secret death-squads these usurpers behind the throne, or Tatcher Regime, have been pulling off a number of political assassinations all over Britian, as well as in the Irish Republic. Their main purpose was to silence anyone they feel threatened by and if murder doesn't do the trick, like in the case of Officer Kerrigan, personal or political blackmail will.
The movie "Secret Agenda" get's a bit unbelievable with Kerrigan agreeing to go all the way in retrieving the important tape, that Harris duplicated, with Jessner. Kerrigan in effect chickens out at the last moment and leaves her out in the cold as he goes to his superiors in the British Police. Kerrigan tells them everything about his and Jessner's, who Kerrigan kept in the dark about all this, upcoming meeting with Harris who's to hand over the secret tape to them the next day at Dublin's O'Connell Bridge!
Jessner's meeting with Harris turns into a disaster with him being grabbed by M15 agents who were tipped off, in his being unknowingly double-crossed, by a very naive Kerrigan who should have known better! Beaten and handcuffed Harris is quickly put in a van where he's later shot and killed and his murder made to look like the work of the I.R.A.
During all this confusion Jessner gets away from the perusing M15 agents and is later confronted at the Belfast Airport, where she plans to get out of the country, by Kerrigan. Asking Jessner if she has the tape that Harris was to give to her Kerrigan get an unequivocal no answer from her and as both he and his partner Maxwell leave and Jessner goes on her flight back to the US the film goes into freeze-frame and ends.
Irgrid Jessner learned a lot from what she herself saw in Northern Ireland and heard from Harris & Co. The most important revelation that Jessner got from all that is never to trust anybody in government, including the very helpful at times Kerrigan.
Jessner in fact did have Harris' tape and listening to it in her car on the way to the airport made up her mind that the British people had been hoodwinked long enough. Whats more they deserves to know the truth about what their government is doing in their name and will make sure that they'll find that out by making the contents of Harris' tape public through the free and open American media: that's if they'll have both the guts and foresight to print or broadcast it!
A fast moving, no frills whodunnit in a divided Ireland.
=G=31 March 2001
"Hidden Agenda" - another in a long list of films about the conflict in Northern Ireland - focuses on the investigation by British detective Kerrigan (Cox) of the assassination of an American civil liberties investigator. The film gets down to business quickly as it shows the pervasive and deeply rooted divisive sentiments of Ireland with a straight forward, no frills approach and a whodunnit type plot. A well made location shoot with no frills, "HA" will most likely be appreciated by those with some understanding of the Irish conflict.
All bluster, but no action!
JohnHowardReid25 December 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Another disappointing entry, this time in the fictionalized political thriller genre, is Hidden Agenda (1990), which poses questions it fails to deal with, let alone answer, and also goes overboard to work up audience interest in the main characters only to reveal at the end that most of them don't deserve our attention.
In addition to this parade of characters, who start off looking and seeming sympathetic, but actually have feet of clay after all, Ken Loach's boring and superficial TV-style direction with its constant emphasis on Look Back in Anger dialogue exchanges, certainly does not help.
Worse still, particularly grating is the leading male protagonist who is all bluster but absolutely no action.
The only good note, so far as "Hidden Agenda" is concerned, is that the technical quality of the M-G-M DVD rates 10/10.
In addition to this parade of characters, who start off looking and seeming sympathetic, but actually have feet of clay after all, Ken Loach's boring and superficial TV-style direction with its constant emphasis on Look Back in Anger dialogue exchanges, certainly does not help.
Worse still, particularly grating is the leading male protagonist who is all bluster but absolutely no action.
The only good note, so far as "Hidden Agenda" is concerned, is that the technical quality of the M-G-M DVD rates 10/10.
All too relevant
mlstein14 June 2004
Not top-drawer Ken Loach; the "thriller" elements are well-done, but the warmth and depth Loach brings to his working-class stories has no place here. There's a structural flaw in the script, too--it presents itself as a film about Northern Ireland but then jumps headlong into something equally involving but quite different.
It is, all the same, a well-crafted, atmospheric film that never lacks excitement and raises some substantial issues. More importantly, the entire film is sadly prescient. The opening torture narratives could have been translated from accounts of Abu Ghraib prison. Change a couple of proper names and the scenery, and this would be the best film around on the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Even the second half of the story (no spoiler warning, so I give no details) rings truer and truer as time goes by.
Richly deserves reissue.
It is, all the same, a well-crafted, atmospheric film that never lacks excitement and raises some substantial issues. More importantly, the entire film is sadly prescient. The opening torture narratives could have been translated from accounts of Abu Ghraib prison. Change a couple of proper names and the scenery, and this would be the best film around on the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Even the second half of the story (no spoiler warning, so I give no details) rings truer and truer as time goes by.
Richly deserves reissue.
Solid political thriller!
AhmedSpielberg9923 June 2020
A decent, fairly gripping and well-acted, yet slow-moving and conventional political thriller. The most disappointing thing about it, though, is that it-based on what I've seen by him thus far-doesn't feel like a Ken Loach film.
(7/10)
(7/10)
Excellent
preppy-316 May 2002
Just great political drama. It takes place in 1987 Belfast. A human rights activist (Frances McDormand) investigating British brutality against the Irish, and a police inspector (Brian Cox) are investigating the murder of one of her colleagues. They find a huge conspiracy that leads to the highest people in government.
I know only the basics of the conflict in Northern Ireland, but I was able to follow the story. They shot on location and the accents are, at times, incomprehensible, but it actually adds to the movie. The movie looks grimy and bleak...as it should. The movie is VERY critical of England. McDormand and Cox are superb and the movie is very realistic...especially the ending.
Sadly, this movie bombed big in America. It came out before McDormand hit it big with "Fargo" and Cox before "In the Name of the Father". Still, this is well worth seeing. Don't miss it!
I know only the basics of the conflict in Northern Ireland, but I was able to follow the story. They shot on location and the accents are, at times, incomprehensible, but it actually adds to the movie. The movie looks grimy and bleak...as it should. The movie is VERY critical of England. McDormand and Cox are superb and the movie is very realistic...especially the ending.
Sadly, this movie bombed big in America. It came out before McDormand hit it big with "Fargo" and Cox before "In the Name of the Father". Still, this is well worth seeing. Don't miss it!
A twisted, thorny and complex film about a difficult enquiry carried out by a police detective and a human rights activist
ma-cortes25 November 2023
When an American human rights lawyer is assassinated in Belfast, it remains for the man's girlfriend (Frances McDormand), as well as a two-fisted, obstinate, no nonsense police officer (Brian Cox) helped by his assistant (John Benfield) to find the truth. They soon discover tracks to be contained in an audio tape which the man had with him, exposing political manipulations at the highest levels of government. But such underlying agendas require careful considerations to avoid worse things than killing. Secret Defense...Murder... Torture... Corruption...The most talked about thriller in years! Murder... Torture... Corruption... The Truth Can Never Be Buried. Every government has one. When a government seeks revenge...nobody is safe.
An explosive new thriller inspired by actual events, including intrigue, thrills, suspenseful, twists and turns. An acceptable and passable film but neither notable, nor extraordinary , but decent. It deals with a a human rights activist and a police detective who pull off a complex enquire and uncover brutality and corruption among the British forces in Northern Ireland. Loach's film has the feel of a Costa-Gavras film political thrille and adding a storyline by controversial Marxist Jim Allen. Despite its something flailing conspiracy-theory narrative and its upstaging by television projects, this deserves to be seen simply because it takes the debate on Ireland further than most such docudramas, asking about the nature of the British presence and its effect on the mainland's justice system. The plot based on both the 'Stalker' and 'Colin Wallace' affairs, concerning mainly the murder of an American civil liberties campaigner and the subsequent investigation by Brian Cox as a tough, stubborn police detective to find the truth, which leads to the heart of the military and political establishment. The Northern Irish dialect is sometimes hard to understand as are the machinations on the British police system. Whatever one thinks of the political line on offer, there's plenty of evidence of Loach's undiminished power as a director and equally ample evidence that something is very rotten in the state of Northern Ireland. The two main actors: Frances McDormand, Brian Cox give stunning performances. They're re well acompanied by a mostly Brit support cast, such as: John Benfield, Maurice Roëves, Michelle Fairley, Brad Dourif, Patrick Kavanagh, Mai Zetterling, Bernard Archard, Ian McElhinney, Jim Norton, among others.
The motion picture was professionally directed by Ken Loach, following his particular style. Loach is an expert fimmaker of rich human dramas, committed stories and films of social denunciation. In the 90s Loach directed a series of award-winning movies firmly establishing him as one of the best European filmmakers with ¨Riff-Raff¨, ¨Raining stones¨ and ¨My name is Joe¨ winning several prizes in Cannes, and other international Festivals and , of course , ¨Land and freedom¨ which achieved the Ecumenical Prize and the International critics Prize at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. In the 2000s, Loach went on his special landmark about socialist realism with ¨Bread and Roses¨, ¨The Navigators¨, ¨Sweet sixteen¨, ¨Just a kiss¨, and ¨It's free world¨. And in 2006 directed ¨The Wind That Shakes the Barley¨ and it was winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival The picture appeal to Ken Loach enthusiasts, Frances McDormand fans and political genre buffs. Rating : 6/10. Generally worthwhile.
An explosive new thriller inspired by actual events, including intrigue, thrills, suspenseful, twists and turns. An acceptable and passable film but neither notable, nor extraordinary , but decent. It deals with a a human rights activist and a police detective who pull off a complex enquire and uncover brutality and corruption among the British forces in Northern Ireland. Loach's film has the feel of a Costa-Gavras film political thrille and adding a storyline by controversial Marxist Jim Allen. Despite its something flailing conspiracy-theory narrative and its upstaging by television projects, this deserves to be seen simply because it takes the debate on Ireland further than most such docudramas, asking about the nature of the British presence and its effect on the mainland's justice system. The plot based on both the 'Stalker' and 'Colin Wallace' affairs, concerning mainly the murder of an American civil liberties campaigner and the subsequent investigation by Brian Cox as a tough, stubborn police detective to find the truth, which leads to the heart of the military and political establishment. The Northern Irish dialect is sometimes hard to understand as are the machinations on the British police system. Whatever one thinks of the political line on offer, there's plenty of evidence of Loach's undiminished power as a director and equally ample evidence that something is very rotten in the state of Northern Ireland. The two main actors: Frances McDormand, Brian Cox give stunning performances. They're re well acompanied by a mostly Brit support cast, such as: John Benfield, Maurice Roëves, Michelle Fairley, Brad Dourif, Patrick Kavanagh, Mai Zetterling, Bernard Archard, Ian McElhinney, Jim Norton, among others.
The motion picture was professionally directed by Ken Loach, following his particular style. Loach is an expert fimmaker of rich human dramas, committed stories and films of social denunciation. In the 90s Loach directed a series of award-winning movies firmly establishing him as one of the best European filmmakers with ¨Riff-Raff¨, ¨Raining stones¨ and ¨My name is Joe¨ winning several prizes in Cannes, and other international Festivals and , of course , ¨Land and freedom¨ which achieved the Ecumenical Prize and the International critics Prize at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. In the 2000s, Loach went on his special landmark about socialist realism with ¨Bread and Roses¨, ¨The Navigators¨, ¨Sweet sixteen¨, ¨Just a kiss¨, and ¨It's free world¨. And in 2006 directed ¨The Wind That Shakes the Barley¨ and it was winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival The picture appeal to Ken Loach enthusiasts, Frances McDormand fans and political genre buffs. Rating : 6/10. Generally worthwhile.
sol1218, you're getting your Labour and Tory leaders thoroughly mixed up!
cnlawson200423 September 2008
Whooaa! Slow down, sol1218 from Brooklyn NY.
The political scene in the U.K. looked like this: Edward Heath, bachelor leader of the Conservatives, won the election in 1970. He took Britain into the then Common Market in 1973, but called an election in February 1974 when the miners forced him to declare a three-day week.
The Tory slogan for the election was: Who governs Britain? The result was confused, but the message was fairly clear: Not you, matey. Labour under Harold Wilson took office with a slim majority. Wilson called a second election in October, which he won narrowly, increasing his majority slightly.
He held a referendum on the Common Market in 1975, which he won by sidelining the extremists of both Left and Right. He ruled until 1976 when he resigned from politics, for reasons which were obscure at the time, but probably because he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's. It is certainly true that the Right plotted endlessly against him.
Jim Callaghan, who had been Chancellor, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary, took over as P.M. and called an election after his full five-year term. (In the U.K. governments normally call elections after four years.) In fact Callaghan was forced to do so because of a move by the Scottish Nationalists. Had he called the election just a year earlier, he stood a good chance of winning, say many pundits.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives had deposed Edward Heath who had lost them two elections, and Maggie Thatcher replaced him as leader. She swept to power in 1979, and as we all know, won the next two elections.
Economic chaos was the watchword of the day and there were many strikes. The situation in Northern Ireland, which had started simmering with the Civil Rights movement of 1968, gradually deteriorated. The assassinated politician of the film whose name is Nevin, may well represent Airey Neave, a war hero who had escaped from the high-security Colditz Castle, a German-speaking lawyer who had attended the Nuremberg Trials and a hardline Conservative with military and security connections, who was a close adviser of Thatcher. He was blown up outside the House of Commons on March 30, 1979, by the INLA a few weeks before the election.
Ken Loach has never made any secret of his sympathies for the Irish cause. His powerful film "Wind that shakes the barley", which apparently did not make much money in the U.K., had Conservative politicians fulminating about treason and lack of patriotism because of his portrayal of the brutal Black and Tans. The name was given to the ex-British army personnel and (inaccurately) also to the auxiliaries who were sent to Ireland between 1920 and 1921 to crush the IRA and Sinn Fein, but who also attacked and killed civilians. Historians agree, however, that Loach was pretty accurate in his historical recreation. The film also shows the ruthlessness of Irish-on-Irish killings in the Civil War afterwards.
The political scene in the U.K. looked like this: Edward Heath, bachelor leader of the Conservatives, won the election in 1970. He took Britain into the then Common Market in 1973, but called an election in February 1974 when the miners forced him to declare a three-day week.
The Tory slogan for the election was: Who governs Britain? The result was confused, but the message was fairly clear: Not you, matey. Labour under Harold Wilson took office with a slim majority. Wilson called a second election in October, which he won narrowly, increasing his majority slightly.
He held a referendum on the Common Market in 1975, which he won by sidelining the extremists of both Left and Right. He ruled until 1976 when he resigned from politics, for reasons which were obscure at the time, but probably because he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's. It is certainly true that the Right plotted endlessly against him.
Jim Callaghan, who had been Chancellor, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary, took over as P.M. and called an election after his full five-year term. (In the U.K. governments normally call elections after four years.) In fact Callaghan was forced to do so because of a move by the Scottish Nationalists. Had he called the election just a year earlier, he stood a good chance of winning, say many pundits.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives had deposed Edward Heath who had lost them two elections, and Maggie Thatcher replaced him as leader. She swept to power in 1979, and as we all know, won the next two elections.
Economic chaos was the watchword of the day and there were many strikes. The situation in Northern Ireland, which had started simmering with the Civil Rights movement of 1968, gradually deteriorated. The assassinated politician of the film whose name is Nevin, may well represent Airey Neave, a war hero who had escaped from the high-security Colditz Castle, a German-speaking lawyer who had attended the Nuremberg Trials and a hardline Conservative with military and security connections, who was a close adviser of Thatcher. He was blown up outside the House of Commons on March 30, 1979, by the INLA a few weeks before the election.
Ken Loach has never made any secret of his sympathies for the Irish cause. His powerful film "Wind that shakes the barley", which apparently did not make much money in the U.K., had Conservative politicians fulminating about treason and lack of patriotism because of his portrayal of the brutal Black and Tans. The name was given to the ex-British army personnel and (inaccurately) also to the auxiliaries who were sent to Ireland between 1920 and 1921 to crush the IRA and Sinn Fein, but who also attacked and killed civilians. Historians agree, however, that Loach was pretty accurate in his historical recreation. The film also shows the ruthlessness of Irish-on-Irish killings in the Civil War afterwards.
A First Class Political Thriller
timdalton0072 April 2009
Hidden Agenda has long been on my list of films to see. As a fan of the political thriller genre I was intrigued by its premise. Now, having finally found it and had the opportunity to see it I was presently surprised. The film surpassed my expectations and easily ranks amongst the best political thrillers I've seen.
The performances are the staring point of this phenomenal film. Frances McDormand gives a marvelous performance as American civil rights activist Ingrid Jessner as Brian Cox as Kerrigan, the top investigator investigating the death of Jessner's boyfriend. The result is that, together and separately, they give two highly watchable performances that keep your attention focused on the screen. There's also the supporting cast including Brad Dourif as the murdered boyfriend, Maurice Roëves as the mysterious army officer Harris who has all the secrets plus Bernard Archard and Patrick Kavanagh as two politicians at the heart of the film's conspiracy.
The film is, if nothing else, a conspiracy thriller. What may seem like an odd murder in Northern Ireland soon turns out to be mired in the politics of Thatcher era Britain. The film, while fictional, seems to be far too real for comfort. Writer Jim Allen has crafted a thriller that blends fact and fiction together and so well that the fine line between the two is blurred when it comes to the issues of 1980's Northern Ireland, how Thatcher got herself elected and how governments deal with terrorism. Of even greater surprise is that the plot doesn't overwhelm the dialogue. Unlike some political thrillers, in this film scenes come alive not just from the performances of the actors but from the words on the pages themselves. While it deals with 1980's Northern Ireland one can't help but see the relevant issues ever present in the film nearly twenty years on.
On top of the script there's the documentary like approach that makes the film too realistic for comfort. Clive Tickner's cinematography is the main reason this succeeds so well in that it never feels like a Hollywood film. The result is that (thankfully) one gets the feeling of being a fly on the wall for many of the scenes which makes the blurring of fact and fiction even more successful. Add on the realistic costume and production design along with the tight editing of Jonathon Morris and the result is an all too realistic thriller.
Hidden Agenda is what a political thriller should be. With its combination of fantastic performances, well written script, its realistic design work and especially its documentary like cinematography make it too realistic to be ignored. While it may deal with 1980's Britain in Northern Ireland it's a thriller with a message too strong to be ignored. It's a first rate and a must see for fans of the genre of the political thriller.
The performances are the staring point of this phenomenal film. Frances McDormand gives a marvelous performance as American civil rights activist Ingrid Jessner as Brian Cox as Kerrigan, the top investigator investigating the death of Jessner's boyfriend. The result is that, together and separately, they give two highly watchable performances that keep your attention focused on the screen. There's also the supporting cast including Brad Dourif as the murdered boyfriend, Maurice Roëves as the mysterious army officer Harris who has all the secrets plus Bernard Archard and Patrick Kavanagh as two politicians at the heart of the film's conspiracy.
The film is, if nothing else, a conspiracy thriller. What may seem like an odd murder in Northern Ireland soon turns out to be mired in the politics of Thatcher era Britain. The film, while fictional, seems to be far too real for comfort. Writer Jim Allen has crafted a thriller that blends fact and fiction together and so well that the fine line between the two is blurred when it comes to the issues of 1980's Northern Ireland, how Thatcher got herself elected and how governments deal with terrorism. Of even greater surprise is that the plot doesn't overwhelm the dialogue. Unlike some political thrillers, in this film scenes come alive not just from the performances of the actors but from the words on the pages themselves. While it deals with 1980's Northern Ireland one can't help but see the relevant issues ever present in the film nearly twenty years on.
On top of the script there's the documentary like approach that makes the film too realistic for comfort. Clive Tickner's cinematography is the main reason this succeeds so well in that it never feels like a Hollywood film. The result is that (thankfully) one gets the feeling of being a fly on the wall for many of the scenes which makes the blurring of fact and fiction even more successful. Add on the realistic costume and production design along with the tight editing of Jonathon Morris and the result is an all too realistic thriller.
Hidden Agenda is what a political thriller should be. With its combination of fantastic performances, well written script, its realistic design work and especially its documentary like cinematography make it too realistic to be ignored. While it may deal with 1980's Britain in Northern Ireland it's a thriller with a message too strong to be ignored. It's a first rate and a must see for fans of the genre of the political thriller.
conspiracy of lies
lee_eisenberg21 February 2014
Ken Loach has made a career out of directing movies about politically charged topics. A lot of his movies have addressed class issues in the United Kingdom, but he has also looked at foreign policy. One example is "Hidden Agenda", about an investigation into the murder of a human rights lawyer in Belfast. Loach not only indicts the British occupation, but also finds time to take a swipe at Margaret Thatcher's government.* While I was watching the movie I assumed that it was based on the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane. It turns out that the movie is a fictional story, but it still makes sure to show the sorts of things that had become commonplace in Northern Ireland. I read that Loach had the cast members meet with people who had gotten abused by British forces to give them an idea of what the movie was dealing with.
Ken Loach also looked at Ireland in "The Wind that Shakes the Barley", about Ireland's war for independence in the early 20th century. Both movies take unflinching looks at what the English did to the Irish for over 800 years. To be certain, "Hidden Agenda" features a scene that should give people pause in the era of the so called war on terrorism: a man sings a song that has the line "you take our land and call us terrorists for resisting". I recommend the movie. Other movies focusing on Northern Ireland that I recommend are "In the Name of the Father", "Bloody Sunday" and "Breakfast on Pluto".
*After Thatcher died, Loach proposed that her funeral should be privatized, since she would've wanted it that way.
Ken Loach also looked at Ireland in "The Wind that Shakes the Barley", about Ireland's war for independence in the early 20th century. Both movies take unflinching looks at what the English did to the Irish for over 800 years. To be certain, "Hidden Agenda" features a scene that should give people pause in the era of the so called war on terrorism: a man sings a song that has the line "you take our land and call us terrorists for resisting". I recommend the movie. Other movies focusing on Northern Ireland that I recommend are "In the Name of the Father", "Bloody Sunday" and "Breakfast on Pluto".
*After Thatcher died, Loach proposed that her funeral should be privatized, since she would've wanted it that way.
Agent Orange
richardchatten26 September 2022
Largely forgotten today, the first of two films Ken Loach made about The Troubles generated headlines at the time for a nasty spat at a press conference between Alexander Walker and Loach. As the snappy title suggests it's the nearest thing Loach ever made to a conventional thriller, and although Loach is no Costa-Gavras or Alan Pakula it hold the attention.
Loach inevitably subscribes to the conspiracy rather than the cock-up theory of history, witness the speech that Thatcher's elevation was deliberately engineered rather than simply luck; and he puts a crass and patronising observation about the Irish in a high-ranking Tory's mouth.
A good cast rather surprisingly includes Mai Zetterling making a rare late appearance as an actor in a oddly small part.
Loach inevitably subscribes to the conspiracy rather than the cock-up theory of history, witness the speech that Thatcher's elevation was deliberately engineered rather than simply luck; and he puts a crass and patronising observation about the Irish in a high-ranking Tory's mouth.
A good cast rather surprisingly includes Mai Zetterling making a rare late appearance as an actor in a oddly small part.
Another great Ken Loach movie! (:
richwgriffin-227-17663523 November 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Ken Loach is one of the greatest filmmakers in the world. This is one of his finest films. Journalist/police procedural combined, with terrific performances, esp. Brian Cox, Frances McDormand and Jim Norton. Cover-ups, intractable positions, a frightening police state in Belfast, a top-notch script, a fast moving story - my only quarrel with these films (The Constant Gardener and The Ghost Writer come quickly to mind) is their downbeat endings - I would prefer for positive endings, even if they are "unrealistic" at this time, it becomes demoralizing for the bad guys to win again and again in these type of films - we need to see the good guys winning because it can become a prophecy of getting people to think outside of their pre-programmed thinking (they are taught incorrectly). This movie is infuriating, which is what it should be. Definitely worth watching!!! (:
Potentially good movie ruined by heavy-handed script
Euromutt14 March 2005
Warning: Spoilers
"Hidden Agenda" deals with the (rather clumsy) murder in Northern Ireland by British security forces of an American lawyer (Dourif) working for an civil liberties NGO, and the subsequent efforts of his girlfriend and co-worker (McDormand) and a high-ranking British police officer (Cox) who is assigned to investigate the incident to uncover what happened and why. It's certainly no secret that the British security forces overstepped the bounds of their authority on numerous occasions in Northern Ireland, and had the makers of the film concentrated in that, this could have been a fine political thriller.
Unfortunately, the team of writer Allen and director Loach lay it on way too thick as McDormand and Cox's characters uncover a conspiracy on the part of the Tory party and the British military-industrial complex to undermine the Labour party and bring Thatcher to power. This, of course, takes place at the instructions of the CIA (gasp!), and heavy-handed parallels to the 1973 coup against Allende in Chile (long one of Loach's hobbyhorses) are thrown in to drive the point home.
Once this less-than-hidden agenda on the part of the filmmakers becomes apparent, the remainder of the film becomes thoroughly predictable, and the viewer is struck by how forced and unrealistic much of the dialogue is, and all the talent of the cast cannot rescue it from becoming an annoyance. In conclusion, I can only recommend this film if you want to see an example of why Ken Loach is vastly overrated.
Unfortunately, the team of writer Allen and director Loach lay it on way too thick as McDormand and Cox's characters uncover a conspiracy on the part of the Tory party and the British military-industrial complex to undermine the Labour party and bring Thatcher to power. This, of course, takes place at the instructions of the CIA (gasp!), and heavy-handed parallels to the 1973 coup against Allende in Chile (long one of Loach's hobbyhorses) are thrown in to drive the point home.
Once this less-than-hidden agenda on the part of the filmmakers becomes apparent, the remainder of the film becomes thoroughly predictable, and the viewer is struck by how forced and unrealistic much of the dialogue is, and all the talent of the cast cannot rescue it from becoming an annoyance. In conclusion, I can only recommend this film if you want to see an example of why Ken Loach is vastly overrated.
vast right wing conspiracy
RanchoTuVu12 October 2006
When a police investigator is called in to determine the facts behind the murder/execution of an American civil rights lawyer in Northern Ireland, he discovers not only an extensive cover-up of that event, but also a giant political conspiracy as well. Set in Northern Ireland, the film is a critical look at the response by the British government and military to the IRA. Not only is the response brutal and deadly, the so-called threat the IRA poses to order and stability is capitalized on by Tory political masterminds in Margaret Thatcher's administration, as well as the CIA, in a devious attempt to permanently keep the progressive Labor opposition from ever taking power again. Directed by Ken Loach, the film has a noticeable political angle, though he holds a steady hand on the action and the investigation, with sharply written and acted interrogation scenes and meetings with reclusive IRA people, as well as bringing in the political elites, to make it fast moving and constantly interesting.
gritty political thriller
mjneu5927 November 2010
Here's a film guaranteed to satisfy even the most demanding fan of political intrigue, following a massive conspiracy uncovered by a routine investigation into the death of an American civil liberties lawyer in Northern Ireland. Director Ken Loach makes no secret of his anti-occupation bias, but he also takes care to approach the subject with an eye for authenticity rarely seen outside the most unsparing documentary. This is strictly a no-frills thriller: tough, intelligent, complex and all too plausible, combining the best elements of a police procedural with all the compelling ambiguity of an espionage caper. The villains may be cardboard cutouts, and the conspiracy itself perhaps too deeply rooted in classic left-wing paranoia, but the real issue at stake is how otherwise honest defenders of law and order are forced to confront the truth, or not, as the case may be. Stewart Copland's unassuming music score adds just the right touch.
"Ireland would be a lovely place. If it wasn't for the Irish"
Alba_Of_Smeg9 September 2020
Hidden Agenda (1990) is a somewhat enjoyable political cover-up drama about the Northern Ireland conflict (the troubles). Starring Brian Cox and the ever wonderful Frances McDormand. Somewhat enjoyable is about as good as it gets though sadly. Very interesting history and plot, well written and well acted but drawn-out and one sided.
No they don't want we can (rental)
leplatypus25 June 2015
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 !
Good performances cover up a two-hour lecture.
mark.waltz19 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
""Ireland would be a lovely place. If it wasn't for the Irish." So says an uppity old wealthy white man, explaining why government corruption cannot be exposed during the lifetime of those committing the corruption. This film about conflicts between Parliament and the IRA was interesting but often far too talky and thus often though. Before she moved up to superstardom and started winning practically every award out there, Frances McDormand appeared in this political thriller where she is over in Ireland with her boyfriend on a case involving government brutality, only to deal with his brutal murder and her efforts to find out exactly who was responsible and bring them to justice. She finds she's up against something extremely powerful, and so for nearly two hours, the audience gets to see the barriers she hits and try to figure out which are agenda driven lies within the script or just follow the story as written and accept the fact that human corruption on both sides of the issue can never resolve the situation.
Having seen enough films on the conflict between Ireland and it's mother country that rules the roost set in different eras, I still cannot proclaim myself an expert on this subject. Each film has its own point of view and obviously it's own agenda. As a film, there are many interesting moments but then again it drags whenever McDormand is not on screen. However, the scene with the old rich white man who makes that hysterical quote before being cursed at by the person he's talking to is quite revealing about how Ireland is viewed on by certain members of the British government. Not everybody obviously feels that way, but there are enough mentions of certain people who allegedly do including the Iron Lady herself. The intrusiveness of the press after McDormand's boyfriend was killed was another infuriating moment, but any opportunity to make insensitive tabloid journalism look bad and amoral is fine with me. I wasn't completely bored, enjoying the scenery, but I wish there was a lot more action and less chitchat about topics that can never be resolved as long as progress is rejected.
Having seen enough films on the conflict between Ireland and it's mother country that rules the roost set in different eras, I still cannot proclaim myself an expert on this subject. Each film has its own point of view and obviously it's own agenda. As a film, there are many interesting moments but then again it drags whenever McDormand is not on screen. However, the scene with the old rich white man who makes that hysterical quote before being cursed at by the person he's talking to is quite revealing about how Ireland is viewed on by certain members of the British government. Not everybody obviously feels that way, but there are enough mentions of certain people who allegedly do including the Iron Lady herself. The intrusiveness of the press after McDormand's boyfriend was killed was another infuriating moment, but any opportunity to make insensitive tabloid journalism look bad and amoral is fine with me. I wasn't completely bored, enjoying the scenery, but I wish there was a lot more action and less chitchat about topics that can never be resolved as long as progress is rejected.
Superb acting!!!
v_danilovic28 February 2022
I admit it - I'm smitten with Frances McDormand. She makes every male lead she plays opposite better by her presence. Doubt that? Look at how she elevated Brad Pitt's game in "Burn After Reading."
The rest of the acting and direction is noteworthy as well. Now about the writing.... Am I getting old, or is it really quite opaque?
The rest of the acting and direction is noteworthy as well. Now about the writing.... Am I getting old, or is it really quite opaque?
An intriguing political movie
daumas15 July 1999
During the dark(est) days of the irish protestant/catholic war, a group of human rights activists went to Irland to make some research and reports and call the attention of the press. But not only the press is paying attention to them... And one of them is murdered and his agenda is missing. His partner is persued by some members of the local government. Very well constructed movie about political nets that a government can do to hide the thruth....
Mr. Loach masterfully forces us to face a most inconvenient truth with his highly matter-of-fact modality, and its repercussions are here to stay
lasttimeisaw18 October 2017
Ken Loach's controversial Cannes entry in 1990, which won him the Jury Prize, HIDDEN AGENDA is a faction political thriller sets in a powder keg Belfast during the Northern Ireland Troubles.
An American civil rights lawyer Paul Sullivan (Dourif) is crassly murdered along with a Provisional IRA sympathizer by British security force en route to a covert meeting with his secret source, a mysterious Captain Harris (Roëves). Paul's aggrieved girlfriend and colleague, Ingrid Jessner (McDormand), remains in Belfast to seek out the truth, and soon is assisted by the righteous police detective Peter Kerrigan (Cox), designated by the Great Britain to lead the investigation.
Congruent with Loach's rigid, anti-sensational stock-in-trade, HIDDEN AGENDA is, paraphrasing its closing quote from James Miller, a former MI5 agent, "like the layers of an onion, the more you peel them away, the more you feel like crying", a somber police procedural strenuously resorting in verbal sparring to piece together the jigsaw of a conspiracy theory which implicates some insidious maneuvers from UK's Conservative party with regard to Margaret Thatcher's rise to power, then poignantly shades into a hammer blow to those who uphold an idealist view on political subterfuges. At least for once, it is not the usual suspects of IRA who are in the receiving end of the diatribe, but the whole rotten democratic polity of the Great Britain, iniquity operated by the powers that be and they are not ashamed, because they cannot be touched. In Loach's all-fired persistence, the reveal (not so shocking to those who are world-weary or cynical), resounds with a cauldron of self-defeat, angst, exasperation and disillusionment.
As a pacy thriller, Loach circumspectly orchestrates a fringe approach to downplay all the suspense usually default in the genre (no bombastic car-chasing, fistfight or firefight). The truth- seeking process is intriguingly hard-hitting and hardly impeded by any red herrings or devious plotting (a secret tape is the McGuffin), the resistance is brazenly from the bureaucratic backscratching among top brass by way of face-to-face hectoring (a bumptious Jim Norton is a standout among the squadron of supporting players as the head of the constabulary Mr. Brodie) and Brian Cox is redoubtable as a stout rock refusing to budge from mounting pressure, which makes his powerlessness and concession all the more telling in the coda. Yet, in a pivotal scene with Harris, one can manifestly sense his contempt for the latter, whom he summarily deems as a traitor seeking refuge from IRA, no one can conduct disinterestedly where hardened bias and congenital patriotism can penetrate through one's head as easy as falling off a log.
Kerrigan's astute ambiguity is refracted by Frances McDormand's impassioned performance as Ingrid, who is at once ingenuous and intrepid, and doesn't succumb the disheartening reality check solely because she is an outsider, she has nothing else to lose in the purgatory besides her own life, but the film comes to a halt when Kerrigan retreats back from his mission, Loach doesn't want a feel-good deus ex-machina to sabotage his scrutinizing endeavor (otherwise, in a lesser hand, it would be very possible to deploy a secret-recording from Kerrigan of his confab with two high-rank accomplices to turn the table in the eleventh hour), because he doesn't need his films to please everyone, HIDDEN AGENDA is a provocation, but an intelligent one, Mr. Loach masterfully forces us to face a most inconvenient truth with his highly matter-of-fact modality, and its repercussions are here to stay.
An American civil rights lawyer Paul Sullivan (Dourif) is crassly murdered along with a Provisional IRA sympathizer by British security force en route to a covert meeting with his secret source, a mysterious Captain Harris (Roëves). Paul's aggrieved girlfriend and colleague, Ingrid Jessner (McDormand), remains in Belfast to seek out the truth, and soon is assisted by the righteous police detective Peter Kerrigan (Cox), designated by the Great Britain to lead the investigation.
Congruent with Loach's rigid, anti-sensational stock-in-trade, HIDDEN AGENDA is, paraphrasing its closing quote from James Miller, a former MI5 agent, "like the layers of an onion, the more you peel them away, the more you feel like crying", a somber police procedural strenuously resorting in verbal sparring to piece together the jigsaw of a conspiracy theory which implicates some insidious maneuvers from UK's Conservative party with regard to Margaret Thatcher's rise to power, then poignantly shades into a hammer blow to those who uphold an idealist view on political subterfuges. At least for once, it is not the usual suspects of IRA who are in the receiving end of the diatribe, but the whole rotten democratic polity of the Great Britain, iniquity operated by the powers that be and they are not ashamed, because they cannot be touched. In Loach's all-fired persistence, the reveal (not so shocking to those who are world-weary or cynical), resounds with a cauldron of self-defeat, angst, exasperation and disillusionment.
As a pacy thriller, Loach circumspectly orchestrates a fringe approach to downplay all the suspense usually default in the genre (no bombastic car-chasing, fistfight or firefight). The truth- seeking process is intriguingly hard-hitting and hardly impeded by any red herrings or devious plotting (a secret tape is the McGuffin), the resistance is brazenly from the bureaucratic backscratching among top brass by way of face-to-face hectoring (a bumptious Jim Norton is a standout among the squadron of supporting players as the head of the constabulary Mr. Brodie) and Brian Cox is redoubtable as a stout rock refusing to budge from mounting pressure, which makes his powerlessness and concession all the more telling in the coda. Yet, in a pivotal scene with Harris, one can manifestly sense his contempt for the latter, whom he summarily deems as a traitor seeking refuge from IRA, no one can conduct disinterestedly where hardened bias and congenital patriotism can penetrate through one's head as easy as falling off a log.
Kerrigan's astute ambiguity is refracted by Frances McDormand's impassioned performance as Ingrid, who is at once ingenuous and intrepid, and doesn't succumb the disheartening reality check solely because she is an outsider, she has nothing else to lose in the purgatory besides her own life, but the film comes to a halt when Kerrigan retreats back from his mission, Loach doesn't want a feel-good deus ex-machina to sabotage his scrutinizing endeavor (otherwise, in a lesser hand, it would be very possible to deploy a secret-recording from Kerrigan of his confab with two high-rank accomplices to turn the table in the eleventh hour), because he doesn't need his films to please everyone, HIDDEN AGENDA is a provocation, but an intelligent one, Mr. Loach masterfully forces us to face a most inconvenient truth with his highly matter-of-fact modality, and its repercussions are here to stay.
A feast for conspiracy addicts and those who love to hate the British.
revtg1-213 December 2006
The British anti-terrorist police assassinate a well known member of the Irish resistance in order to blame it on members of his own organization to create an internal fight. But they also kill an American journalist who is along for the ride. Now, more than ever, they need to blame the IRA. An investigator is sent from London to "find out the truth." Unfortunately for him he is an honest cop who wrongly believes he bosses really do want him to find the truth. When he gets close he is warned to back off. He refuses and the same people out to destroy the IRA set out to destroy him. Too late he learns pawns are not allowed to have the courage of their convictions.
Downbeat Loach thriller
michaelberanek2758 June 2023
The distinctly pedestrian and realist style to this little caper was quite refreshing as it avoided most clichés of the thriller genre like sexy protagonists and high energy gun battles etc etc to give something a little like a racy cigarette smoke-filled real-life documentary. The miry setting, in the midst of the sectarian wars of Ireland, and including within the tawdry bowels of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, also Republican bars, minor hotels, and humble households was most intriguing, but then the 'hidden agenda' plot panned away some distance from the psycho-realism onto a rather disappointing vein about incredulous or just uninteresting high level parliamentary dirty tricks, ho hum... Thatcher (of course), well not her exactly, anyway... It felt great in the main though, in the unique way the drama was directed, somewhat over the shoulder camera positions where the context is always in view, and conjuring easy naturalistic performances - with Cox doing a great turn as kind of big Yorkshire terrier. The story muddled its way along in a way that felt pretty convincing as a slice of real life in all its convolutions and routine failures of trust, up until the final segment which as I say pulled back I feel a little far, with its ambition to be a big Political thriller, somewhat betraying the best bit, the human narrative of the everyday fog of war and enduring terror that was no doubt an everyday reality for the citizens of northern Ireland.
Frances McDormand was quite good in this thin material
jordondave-2808512 April 2023
(1990) Hidden Agenda
THRILLER
Successful project engineer,Audrey (Marina Hands) returns home to France from Canada to see her mother, Martine (Catherine Deneuve), who happens to be a human rights activist. And with their ongoing consistent arguing, Audrey then moves to the abandoned house where her mother used to live. It is then is when she discovers her mother's mother, Louise (Marie-Josée Croze) or Aubrey's grandmother's 'hidden diary'- hence the title, revealing some old secrets.
Well made and gripping cover up movie centering on the existing immoral tactics of the UK police during the early 1980's in Northern Ireland. Human rights activist Ingrid(Frances McDormand) goes on a dangerous journey to find out the truth about her husbands assassination with Brian Cox as the investigator as an aid to Ingrid. Looking at a different side of the fence centering on inhuman liberties against the IRA and Northern Ireland. A great thinking looking picture.
Successful project engineer,Audrey (Marina Hands) returns home to France from Canada to see her mother, Martine (Catherine Deneuve), who happens to be a human rights activist. And with their ongoing consistent arguing, Audrey then moves to the abandoned house where her mother used to live. It is then is when she discovers her mother's mother, Louise (Marie-Josée Croze) or Aubrey's grandmother's 'hidden diary'- hence the title, revealing some old secrets.
Well made and gripping cover up movie centering on the existing immoral tactics of the UK police during the early 1980's in Northern Ireland. Human rights activist Ingrid(Frances McDormand) goes on a dangerous journey to find out the truth about her husbands assassination with Brian Cox as the investigator as an aid to Ingrid. Looking at a different side of the fence centering on inhuman liberties against the IRA and Northern Ireland. A great thinking looking picture.
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