On August 28, “Kneecap” arrives in Italian cinemas. Inspired by the origins of the homonymous trio rap of Belfast (among the first to sing in Irish Gaelic), the film is a comedy biopic written and directed by Rich Peppiatt ('One Rogue Reporter'). The protagonists are the members of the band Naoise ó Cairealláin 'Móglaí Bap', Liam óg óg ó Hannaidh 'Mo Chara' and Jj ó dochartigh 'dj proof, grappling with their controversial ascent to success in the music scene, marked by a convinced claim of the Irish language.
In the cast also Michael Fassbender in the role of Arlo, the mysterious father of Naoise, an Irish patriot who pretended his death to escape the British authorities. 'Kneecap', which will be in competition at the next edition of the Giffoni Film Festival in the Generator + 18 section, was presented at the Sundance 2024 as the first film in the Irish language of the Festival, and was selected to represent Ireland as the best film in foreign language at the Oscar 2025. The film is a psychedelic adventure to discover how a trio of young people from Belfast has become the improbble figure of a reference for a movement of a movement civil rights in safeguarding their mother tongue.
Kneecap is therefore not only a rap group, but a cultural phenomenon: banned by the Rté state television and publicly despised by the conservative party DUP, the trio has built its notoriety through an attitude on the stage that seems to belong more to the punk rock scene that rap and a musical production certainly thorny for themes and language, but innovative for the poetic fusion of Irish and English, a fusion that inspired an entire generation young people in the rediscovery of their linguistic roots.
In addition, in recent months the Kneecap have made them talk about themselves for their pro-Palestine positions openly declared some musical events, including the coachella (in which they invited the public to join the 'Free Palestine' choir and for which the organization of their concerts in the USA interrupted the collaboration) and a concert in London last November in which Mo Chara exposed a flag of Hezbollah and was accused of terrorism.
Following the current survey several politicians including the English Prime Minister had asked that the band did not perform at the recent Glastonbury Festival: the BBC, the official broadcaster of the Festival, decided to obscure their performance in live broadcast but in the end the trio played in front of an immense audience where they pushed several Palestinian flags.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
