Fifty Dead Men Walking

Synopsis

In the 1980s when the Irish civil conflict was at its most treacherous, 22 year old Martin McGartland was recruited by the British police to infiltrate and spy on the IRA. He lived his life under constant threat of exposure and subsequent guaranteed torture and death yet he continued because his information saved many lives. He enjoyed the buzz until one day he was discovered and had to escape against all odds. Inspired by a true story, to this day he is on the run. Marty McGartland is a 22-year-old street hustler from Ireland, living in the 1980s. He gets noticed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army|Irish Republican Army, but thinks their cruel justice is no good. The British want to use Marty as well, because of his connection to the community undetected. The British police want him to infiltrate and spy on the IRA. Marty decides to work for the police because of his IRA dislike. He soon forgets his political preferences when his powerful position takes over. Despite fearing that the IRA will find out about his spying, he builds up a new sense of self esteem. Afraid his family and friends will be murdered if they are informed, Marty starts to lead a double life. Even his new girlfriend Lara knows nothing of his work. Things start to take their toll when the British sell them out. They explain their system could fall down and reveal Marty was their bait all along. The IRA capture and torture Marty, but he is able to escape. His best friend and former British police colleague finds Marty and decides to help him hide. Marty knows the IRA will turn to his family and is forced to make a decision, saving himself or his beloved ones. - In Theaters July 31st, 2009.

Latest Updates

‘Fifty Dead Men Walking’ director Kari Skogland sets the record straight

Published on: July 30, 2009

By Shannon Nystedt
movieset.com

Hear how Fifty Dead Men Walking director Kari Skogland went from directing episodic television, to making a slick docudrama action flick. Skogland is well known for her intense loyalty to Canadian storytelling, which in turn made Belfast itself very helpful in forming the film knowing Skogland didn’t come in to this true-life Irish tale with the usual Hollywood gloss.
The film follows a reluctant young man who is forced to live a double life after being recruited by the British Police to spy on the IRA.

“…I think Kevin is nothing short of phenomenal,” the director declares. “And he really rose to the occasion here. At moments, I wondered if he would have it. But in the end he was so perfect, it couldn’t have been done better by anyone. It wasn’t exactly a reckless call on my part, but you never really know how an actor will respond when you drag him to a new place, make him learn an incredibly difficult accent, and see just how uncomfortable you can make him…”

Read the full interview here.

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Giving the guys a lesson in true grit A couple female film directors show their mettle with tales of war and terrorism

Published on: July 23, 2009

Forget the blockbusters. The most exciting movie of the summer is not Public Enemies or Terminator Salvation or The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3. It’s a tough little film called The Hurt Locker, Kathyrn Bigelow’s nail-biting thriller about an American bomb disposal squad in Baghdad. Strangely, there are still very few female directors making mainstream movies, and the number of women directing films about war and terrorism is even more scarce. And yet, along comes another one—Fifty Dead Men Walking, which opens July 31.

Like The Hurt Locker, Fifty Dead Men Walking is a gritty suspense drama about a group of men who become walking targets in the chaos of urban guerrilla warfare, where battles are fought in residential neighbourhoods and no one can be trusted. It too is directed by a middle-aged woman, Ottawa-born filmmaker Kari Skogland. Her previous movie was The Stone Angel, an earnest adaptation of Margaret Laurence’s CanLit classic. But in watching the taut, visceral drama—starring Jim Sturgess as an IRA informant and Ben Kingsley as the British cop who recruits him—you’d never guess that this U.K. co-production is a Canadian movie, or that its director is a woman.

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Jim Sturgess is a dead man walking

Published on: July 23, 2009

Jim Sturgess stars in Fifty Dead Men Walking, a new film based on the true story of the IRA's Marting McGartland.

Photograph by : Brightlight Pictres, TVA Films

Jim Sturgess got a very nice compliment recently when he was filming a movie. Some kid threw rocks at his head.

It wasn't because he is a bad actor. It's because he's such a good one.

He was in Belfast was filming a scene from Fifty Dead Men Walking, based on the true story of Martin McGartland, a member of the Irish Republican Army who became an informer for the British. McGartland risked his life and got away with it, although he's been in hiding ever since.

"We filmed on the streets, and local people crowded around and people were a bit worried for my safety at times because it's a very touchy subject," said Sturgess, who plays McGartland in the film. "Once I felt a bang on the back of my head and it was a kid throwing stones at me. So it still exists."

It was also a tribute to Sturgess's performance, which was authentic enough to evoke the kind of anger McGartland himself could expect if he ever returned.

"I don't think he would be too welcome if he came back to Belfast," Sturgess said. "I asked them what would happen if he came back, and they gave me a look that was like, I won't say any further."

Fifty Dead Men Walking was directed by Canadian Kari Skogland, one of the few women filmmakers who makes action thrillers (Kathryn Bigelow, who made The Hurt Locker, is another).

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