The Siege of Jadotville

Studio: Netflix
Directed by Richie Smyth

Oct 17, 2016 By Stephen Mayne Web Exclusive

History is cruel, remembering only a few fragments from the multitude of events happening every day. With conflict, a favorite human pastime, skirmishes come and go, mattering immensely to those involved, rarely to a wider audience. The actions of an Irish UN military mission sent to a small mining town in the Katanga region of Congo-Léopoldville in the 1961 faced the same fate until a process of rediscovery brought a glimmer of attention back. One of the results is The Siege of Jadotville, a Netflix action thriller masquerading as political and military history.

The intention is to pay due respect to an Irish company who fought off an overwhelmingly larger force for several days. Intention and delivery don’t quite meet in a mute, bloodless affair; Black Hawk Down if you lowered the intensity and stripped out context. Half-hearted attempts are occasionally made to enlighten the audience as to just what is going on in Congo-Léopoldville in 1961. Slick opening graphics spin a Cold War yarn while UN bigwigs stride purposefully around plotting and scheming. Throw in a bit of heavy exposition; starting with Mark Strong’s Irish diplomat Conor Cruise O’Brien who is literally introduced quoting Congo-Léopoldville related facts and you might think the picture becomes clear.

That it doesn’t is because Kevin Brodbin’s screenplay working from Declan’s Power’s book cares little for the world outside the Irish military compound, the latter word used loosely for a largely indefensible structure. We get the odd glimpse of other, mostly white characters, including the death of UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld (Mikael Persbrandt), a landmark event featured and largely ignored. Instead we have Jamie Dornan’s Commandant Pat Quinlan, an untested leader as the film can’t help but remind us, digging his forces in, readying them all to fight bravely.

It’s here The Siege of Jadotville really wants to be, watching patiently as wave after wave of opponents dash from the tree line into increasingly deadly killing fields. Tactics don’t seem to be a strong point for the assaulting force, led by Guillaume Canet’s mercenary. He’s busy defending the interests of local mining firms happy to see Katanga secede from the wider country if it means mining avoids the upheaval launched by assassinated Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba.

The latter information is key to understanding why everyone is shooting at each other, but it’s not something the story cares about. Director Richie Smyth wants to show heroic men fighting against all odds. The pattern, after the set-up is dispatched, is attack, breather, bigger attack. Soldiers dash around shouting clichés at each other and generally being good comrades to all in need. Traps are placed, snipers deployed and helicopters shot down. It’s all managed effectively, led by Dornan’s swaggering embattled Quinlan.

If only a little more attention had been paid to something beyond the whiff of gunpowder. Shorn of context, it’s like playing a first person shooter in endless survival mode. What starts out fun soon grows stale.

Author rating: 5/10

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Average reader rating: 8/10

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Don Gray
October 20th 2016
7:52pm

What a POS review:

The truth is:

Irish Defense Forces: A’ Company, 35th Battalion suffered five wounded in action during the six days of the siege. The Katangese, on the other hand, suffered heavy losses. Up to 300 were killed, including 30 mercenaries, and an indeterminate number were wounded, with figures ranging from 300 to 1,000.

Lets call it UN Irish: 600 Katangese 5 (wounded)

Amazing how it was hidden so C.C. O’B thrived. Different times I suppose.

jon woodhouse
October 25th 2016
12:12am

Unlike the reviewer I completely understood the context of the movie and didn’t experience “Half-hearted attempts are occasionally made to enlighten the audience,” as it was obvious what was going on. It’s an excellent film about a point in history that deserved being illuminated.

Joe
October 29th 2016
6:12pm

If you think the context of The Congo can be given in a Netflix movie you clearly don’t understand the complexity of The Congo. This is a fine movie, honing in on one aspect of something so intensely beyond comprehension. To think you can give context to The Congo in a 2 hour film shows how naive this reviewer is. The West doesn’t understand this land, but this is a step in that understanding, in which there should be many more steps. To explain context of the Congolese in such a short space is an incredibly stupid notion, and an a clear indication of someone with little actual understanding of all events since King Leopold.

Michael Curry
December 2nd 2016
8:06pm

This film has excellent tension and, despite what this reviewer says, ample context. The only baffling thing is how the reviewer saw all the contextual elements, mentions them in the review, and then says they were missing.

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