Michael Collins Movie

"Michael Collins" may have more than Oscar potential written all over it. Neil Jordan's sweeping, devoted testament to the Irish freedom fighter--whom the British saw as a terrorist--has become something of a metaphor for the troubled times in Ireland and the United Kingdom. It's also become a film requiring special handling after the Irish Republican Army's bombing in February of the London financial district that killed two and last month's outbreak of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.

Four of the five were born outside America. Several share a past in documentary filmmaking. And each is quietly insistent on sharing credit with his crew and director. But this year's Oscar-nominated cinematographers could not be more different in their subjects, from the bitter white snowscapes that envelop the residents of "Fargo" to the sun-baked orange desert of 1930s Egypt in "The English Patient" (the location in fact was Tunisia, filmed in chilly winter).

Four of the five were born outside America. Several share a past in documentary filmmaking. And each is quietly insistent on sharing credit with his crew and director. But this year's Oscar-nominated cinematographers could not be more different in their subjects, from the bitter white snowscapes that envelop the residents of "Fargo" to the sun-baked orange desert of 1930s Egypt in "The English Patient" (the location in fact was Tunisia, filmed in chilly winter).

Given the subject matter of Neil Jordan's film "Michael Collins," it was inevitable that its opening Friday in Britain and Ireland would arouse fierce passions. And indeed a heated debate about the Warner Bros. film, and its accuracy in portraying a particular slice of Irish history, has been raging in the media here. Historians, political commentators and film critics have entered the fray, offering a wide spectrum of views.

Given the subject matter of Neil Jordan's film "Michael Collins," it was inevitable that its opening Friday in Britain and Ireland would arouse fierce passions. And indeed a heated debate about the Warner Bros. film, and its accuracy in portraying a particular slice of Irish history, has been raging in the media here. Historians, political commentators and film critics have entered the fray, offering a wide spectrum of views.

"Michael Collins" may have more than Oscar potential written all over it. Neil Jordan's sweeping, devoted testament to the Irish freedom fighter--whom the British saw as a terrorist--has become something of a metaphor for the troubled times in Ireland and the United Kingdom. It's also become a film requiring special handling after the Irish Republican Army's bombing in February of the London financial district that killed two and last month's outbreak of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.