Fifty Dead Men Walking

"It's a story about an everyman hero," said Canadian director Kari Skogland at Wednesday's press conference for the new drama Fifty Dead Men Walking. But the real story concerning the film has been the off-screen controversy that at one point threatened to overshadow it's Gala premiere at TIFF.

Skogland, who directed 2007's The Stone Angel -- Canadiana at its finest -- crosses the pond for Fifty Dead Men Walking. It's the real-life story of Martin McGartland -- played in the film by Jim Sturgess -- a young hoodlum living in Belfast during "The Troubles" of the late 1980s. He's recruited by the British Government to infiltrate the Irish Republican Army, and is put in the care of a handler, codename Fergus, played by Sir Ben Kingsley.

The film has its roots in a bestselling memoir by the real-life McGartland. He's been making noise all summer about his concerns over Skogland's adaptation of his book, saying he was unhappy with the film. Disclaimers were added to the beginning and end of the book, but McGartland still threatened legal action and sought to block its TIFF screening (read this previous article for the backstory) however an agreement was reached between McGartland and the film's producers earlier this week, leaving the director and cast free to discuss the film.

The film was shot on location in Belfast. In an attempt to make the shoot as accurate as possible, Skogland secured the help of former IRA volunteers and members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

"I had many secret meetings in dark places," said Skogland. "There is no question that we were being watched by all sides. Phones were tapped and there were cameras and various things....We were in the land of Oz"

To prepare himself for the role of mole, and to get a sense of how the conflict affected the city, Sturgess went to Belfast early to immerse himself in the city's culture, which a lot of the time involved a pint or two.

"The pub was the best place to find all the stories we were looking for. So there was a lot of drinking," he said. "We just got drunk basically and spoke to a lot of Irishmen. What was great is that Irish people are such storytellers, especially when you're sitting in such a relaxed environment."

The character is a change of pace for Sturgess, who is best known to North American audiences for such films as Beatles-musical Across the Universe and Las Vegas gambling pic 21.

"You never want to just go and repeat yourself," said Jim. "It was nice to go from the sheen and the bright lights of Las Vegas straight dumped into the council estates and streets of Belfast."

Growing up, the 27-year-old British actor said he saw the IRA portrayed as thugs who just blew things up. 

"Then I went to Belfast and I actually met some of these people and I found them to be intelligent and these great characters, a lot of fun," he said. "It made me really understand the conflict."

It was understanding the conflict that was paramount for Skogland, who wanted to portray the period authentically and accurately without glorifying either side in the conflict.

"Violence is ugly no matter when it happens," she said. "It's fast and painful to watch, difficult to watch, and I wanted that to come through."

She said the film examines how we cope with conflict as individuals.

"I think if i could leave with anybody the messag of this film," said Skogland, "it would be that in any conflict -- whether it be [the] inner-city or Iraq or Afghanistan or World Ware Two, that it must come down to the individual at the end of the day because the first thing that gets lost in war is truth and it becomes murkier and murkier to the point [where] both sides are questionable in whether they're right or wrong. And right or wrong starts to disappear. So one has to look to self and to your own morals and ethics in order to make the right decision."

IT COULD ONLY BE SAID BY A KNIGHT

"Acting is a very democratizing process," said Sir Ben Kingsley. "We're all equals between action and cut."