entertainment
Share icon

Share

Netflix have added an excellent documentary about Bobby Sands and The Troubles

Published 11:50 28 Mar 2018 BST

Paul Moore
Netflix have added an excellent documentary about Bobby Sands and The Troubles

Homeentertainment

Essential viewing.

A few months ago, a brilliant documentary about the famous hunger striker Bobby Sands was broadcast on BBC - but if you missed it then, now is the perfect chance for you to catch up with 66 Days. In the spring of 1981, Sands' 66-day hunger strike brought the attention of the world to the Republican cause. Drawing on an Irish Republican tradition of martyrdom, Sands' emotive, non-violent protest to be classified as a political prisoner became a defining moment in 20th-century Irish history. Sands' death after 66 days marked a key turning point in the relationship between Britain and Ireland and brought a global spotlight to the Northern Irish conflict which eventually triggered international efforts to resolve it. In the documentary, the filmmakers explore Sands' life and death. In terms of its narrative approach, the documentary features a multitude of stirring quotes that were drawn from his own hunger strike diary. By adopting this approach, the viewer gets a unique insight into the man and his beliefs as he embarked on his final journey. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7lstA2FaFc Clip via - HotDocsFest Since premiering at  HotDocs in 2016, the documentary has received some very impressive reviews - it currently has a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes - and it picked up an IFTA nomination last year for the Feature Documentary category. Here's what the critics and viewers made of it. Empire - "Narratives of the Northern Irish Troubles are a nightmare of bias and bullshit - this superior doc does better than most in cutting through both, and offers a lot to experts and noobs alike." Total Film - "Informed, balanced and deeply humane." NY Times - "Mr. Byrne's film is a sober, evenhanded recapitulation of Sands's imprisonment and death that places him in a historical context." Variety -"While hardly the first and unlikely to be the last cinematic word on its subject, this finely crafted docu may well long stand as the most balanced among such treatments." Since airing on the BBC, 66 Days really left a lasting impression on these viewers. Check it out on Netflix. https://twitter.com/seanchaney/status/925499155874746368 https://twitter.com/skysarahjane/status/927152991706152960 https://twitter.com/JayneBFisher/status/926226778875662336 https://twitter.com/RuthLeahMadge/status/925726556982513664 https://twitter.com/FosullivanO/status/925480435110494208 https://twitter.com/DieselCane22/status/922970770623619074 https://twitter.com/Hullbhoy/status/912058111942328321 https://twitter.com/AimeeDuffy/status/912054113134895104

Explore more on these topics:

Netflix have added an excellent documentary about Bobby Sands and The Troubles