The Siege of Jadotville

"The Irish army's forgotten battle"

2016 1h 48m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 978

WarDramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Irish Commandant Pat Quinlan leads a stand off with troops against French and Belgian Mercenaries in the Congo during the early 1960s.

“The Irish army's forgotten battle”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Jamie Dornan
Pat Quinlan
Mark Strong
Conor Cruise O'Brien
Jason O'Mara
Sgt. Jack Prendergast
Michael McElhatton
General McEntee
Emmanuelle Seigner
Madame LaFontagne
Richard Lukunku
Patrice Lumumba
Danny Sapani
Moise Tshombe
Andrew Stock
Man in White Suit

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Richie Smyth
Writers: Kevin Brodbin
Languages: French, English, Irish
Countries: Ireland

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 10 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: French, English, Irish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Richie Smyth, shot by Nikolaus Summerer. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Joseph Trapanese. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Alex Mackie shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jamie Dornan and Mark Strong and Jason O'Mara carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The Irish army's forgotten battle".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt3922798 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Richie Smyth directs. Nikolaus Summerer behind the camera. Joseph Trapanese scores. Alex Mackie cuts. Produced in Ireland. Dialogue in French, English, Irish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 10 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 3 languages: French, English, Irish.
3Directed by Richie Smyth, shot by Nikolaus Summerer. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Joseph Trapanese. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Alex Mackie shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Jamie Dornan and Mark Strong and Jason O'Mara carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "The Irish army's forgotten battle".
8IMDB entry: tt3922798 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 8 themes, including "based on novel or book", "bravery", "congo", "conflict".
10Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Nikolaus Summerer
Original score: Joseph Trapanese
Editing: Alex Mackie
Costume design: Maeve Paterson
Makeup / hair: Anni Bartels
Runtime: 108 min · 1h 48m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Siege of Jadotville (2016)

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Reno2016-12-24
★ 8/10
The Irish entry to the modern warfare. The Irish war film based on the book of the same name, which was originally inspired by the real battle of the Irish army during the UN's peacekeeping mission in the central Africa. Directed by a first timer and a well done job. I have seen lots of Irish film, but this was like I have never seen one before. Obviously, for being a war themed film about their first battle ever in the modern world. Between the start and the end, everything happened so quickly. You will love it if you like fast paced narration. Particularly if you are a war film fan, this is not to be missed. First of all it was not a World War II film. It was about the cold war, and its consequences, that's too far from the land those who are involved. It sets in the Congo basin in the early 60s, when the Irish army arrived representing the UN, the Katangese forces charged them from all the corner. With the limited resources, how these inexperienced men fought against the outnumbered opponents is what this film revealed. Truly a thrilling film is it. The Non-Aligned Nations' forces like from India and Sweden for UN peacekeeping mission who were present around at the time, could not assist the Irish troop either from crossing an important bridge or through the air. These nearly 160 soldiers fought bravely, especially being away from home for the first time, which makes them in an unfavourable condition. This film covered everything from the Irish perspective, but the other way around like how the UN officials failed in their part was also focused on the side. "No plan survives contact with the enemy." It was all about the natural resources found in this African region. So basically no one wants to back off, that means those from the cold war nations sent their mercenaries to fight out any obstacles. The five day battle that the Ireland never forgets, but initially it was not recognised by its own nation, until the recent time. Especially the UN who thought they had lost their reputation with this warfare which is really a shameful behavious for such organisation. It was an English language film, despite an Irish film. That's not new to me, because most of the Irish film I have seen were direct English films. The actors were good, but no one was particularly focused, except the commandant. It opened with him preparing to leave country and ends with him returning. It was a non-stop war film. A series of attacks for the five days with a little gap between the assault to prepare for another. In reality, the Ireland's entry to the warfare was in an unfortunate circumstance, but their opponents underestimated them to use full force. Its a less story, more action film. The war sequences were awesomely made. Though it reminded me the recent Hollywood film '13 Hours'. Mark Strong was in a small part, though he looked different with a wig. I think it was one of the best war films in the recent time. It's not about the heroism, but inspires how they responded to the situation. They did everything they could and they would have achieved even bigger, only if they had everything they wanted. That makes it one of the rare film about the rare warfare where the world failed to acknowledge their effort. So a big thanks to the filmmakers for bringing it to the big screen. Now you should try it if you haven't seen it yet. 8/10
GenerationofSwine2023-01-13
★ 10/10
Wow, it has the dude from Fifty Shades in it and he's actually acting. It's honestly not a bad little film and that is saying a lot given that it has a small little budget doesn't it? They should really call it "Siege of Courage" because really it's about valor and nothing more, but it's about valor in a very muted and believable way. And, as I said, Christian Grey can actually act. And they did a GREAT job with a shoe-string budget. There should be more movies like this, it's a great example of how to make a good movie with no real money. It succeeds in every way.