Hidden Agenda [1990]

Hidden Agenda, Loach’s incredibly gripping, blistering and politically charged denouement of the British Right-Wing in the murky backdrop of the country’s ugly war against IRA, was one hell of a conspiracy thriller. Loach’s preference for naturalistic filmmaking added a strong dose of bleak realism to the proceedings, imbuing the intense and thrilling ride with streaks of believability, thus adding to the impact. When an American human rights lawyer and activist (Brad Dourif), in Northern Ireland to investigate charges of draconian measures regularly employed by the British military to crush separatist movement, is assassinated by unknown assailants while in the company of an IRA sympathizer, Ingrid (Frances McDormand), his fiancée cum colleague in the fact-finding mission, and Kerrigan (Brian Cox), a veteran police officer appointed to investigate the case, start going to the root of the affair, much to the establishment’s discomfiture and consternation. As they delve deep, they decipher uncomfortable truths about the government’s complicity in the rotten affairs and how a few powerful men pompously subverted the system to their preferred end. Suffice it to say, their nosing around is accompanied with its share of physical and psychological threats so that status quo about the public’s perception of the government and the separatists remain shrouded forever. The film garnered fair share of controversy for not towing the official line and its decidedly socialist political stance. The fine cast was led by a brilliant Cox, while the excellent photography placed us right into the pubs, alleys and the paranoia-laden atmosphere of 80s Belfast when “The Troubles” was at its fever pitch.

Director: Ken Loach
Genre: Thriller/Political Thriller
Language: English
Country: UK