This movie is based on the true story of the Guildford four, a group of Irish people jailed for the 1974 bombing of a pub in Guildford, a small town about 30 miles south of London. Their arrest was based on false witnesses, false evidence, hidden testimonies, forced confessions under torture and even the cover-up of the confession of the real bomber.

     This movie is vitally relevant to current events in showing how reaction against terrorism leads to torture, complete abrogation of civil rights, and false imprisonment. We need to see such a movie now to realize what the Bush administration is carrying out in Cuba with the "detainees." The rights of prisoners under the Geneva Convention are still not being accorded these prisoners held as war criminals.

      We must remember that the only other "war criminal" held in the United States before 9/11 was Manuel Noriega, a man who threatened to reveal Bush senior's criminal activities in the Iran-Contra gun-running/money laundering/drug smuggling operation.

     "In the Name of the Father" tells the story from the point of view of Gerry Conlon, played by Daniel Day-Lewis, a young Irish hellion. Gerry is forced to leave Belfast due to the IRA's disapproval of his thieving activities.

     In London, Gerry and his friend Paul Hill move in with a group of hippies. But Gerry and Paul have to move due to friction over a young female-hippy's relationship with Gerry. This leaves both Paul and Gerry in a public park on the night that the Guildford Pub is bombed. To make matters worse, the jilted boyfriend of the female-hippy tells the London police that Gerry and Paul are suspicious Irishmen.

      The London police are under great pressure to bring the guilty parties to justice for the Guildford Pub bombing. Gerry, three of his friends and several members of his family are arrested, tried and jailed. The torture of the prisoners begins immediately after their arrest. Paul, threatened with a gun to his head, signs a confession. Beaten down by days of torture, Gerry also signs.

     In a "kangaroo" British court, the prosecutor paints them as a vicious IRA cell, using the flimsiest of evidence as proof of their guilt. All four of the prisoners are sentenced to obscene jail terms.

      For the next fourteen years, Gerry languishes in prison with his father, Guiseppe, trying to prove his innocence with the help of a British attorney, Gareth Peirce (played by Emma Thompson). Gerry is so cynical about English justice by this time, that Gareth has to continually encourage him to continue his appeal.

     Giuseppe Conlon dies in prison, despite Gareth's compassionate appeal for early release. Gerry changes from a cynical miscreant into a dedicated campaigner for justice. Gareth finally cracks through the illegal British obstructions to the truth.

     In an appeals court, Gareth proves that the London police knew that someone else had bombed the Guildford Pub, that the inspector had withheld crucial evidence proving their innocence, and had tortured the prisoners into signing a confession.

     What makes this movie so timely is that the same forces that contributed to this outrageous perversion of justice in Britain in 1974 are alive and well today in America with the Bush administration.