Review: The Siege of Jadotville
Netflix Brings the untold story of the Irish Army's first major battle to life
Netflix recently released a new original film bringing to life the untold story of the Irish Army's valiant defence of Jadotville during the UN mission to the Congo. In September 1961, 155 Irish troops of A Company, 35th Battalion, part of a UN peacekeeping force, commanded by Commandant (major) Pat Quinlan found themselves besieged by Katangese rebels for five days. Quinlan's men were part of the UN's first ever peacekeeping mission which attempted to maintain the stability and territorial integrity of the newly independent Republic of Congo. Jadotville represented the first major engagement of troops from the neutral Republic of Ireland. The men of Quinlan's, well trained but inexperienced and under-equipped, company managed to hold out for five days against as many as 3,000 Congolese rebels.
While Netflix's 108 minute film is unable to convey the depth and scale of the 1960-1965 Congo Crisis it does capture the desperate fighting at Jadotville and the UN command's inability to grasp the situation on the ground. The UN faced an unprecedented challenge in Congo, tackling not only postcolonial problems but also the vested Western and Soviet interests in the region's mineral resources. The UN's special representative to the Congo, Conor Cruise O'Brien, ably portrayed in the film by Mark Strong, at the time described the operation as bearing "no comparison to anything else in United Nations history.” The situation quickly escalates when O'Brien orders UN troops to take control of Elisabethville, the capital of Katanga. When Prime Minister Moise Tshombe's, charismatically played by Danny Sapani, Katangese rebels retaliate by attacking the Quinlan's isolated garrison the situation in Congo deteriorate.
At Jadotville, a small mining town 60 miles from Elisabethville, the Irish troops are quickly surrounded and attacked by rebels led by mercenaries. Quinlan's senior NCO Sergeant Jack Prendergast (Jason O'Mara) summarises A Company's position: "the compound is a joke, we're wide open." Not expecting the onslaught they would soon face Quinlan orders his men to dig in. The rebels attack the compound and Quinlan's company repulses wave after wave, withstanding artillery and air attack for five days. With the situation getting desperate, cut off from reinforcements and the company running out of ammunition Quinlan faces a difficult decision. O'Brien and the UN commanders lose control of the situation on the ground not realising the severity of Quinlan's situation until it is too late.
Jamie Dornan portrays Quinlan with an intensity that speaks volumes for the commandant's resolve and professionalism. As the film reaches its climax Dornan's evokes Quinlan's increasing desperation as his untenable situation forces him and his men to surrender. A series of ever more desperate radio conversations between Quinlan and UN HQ see tensions run high as it becomes clear the UN's civilian and military leaders fail to grasp the reality of the situation. One conversation ends with Quinlan warning that without reinforcements there will be a "negative exercise outcome", which Sergeant Prendergast paraphrases as "it means we're all fucked."
During the battle not a single man of Quinlan's company was killed while the rebels suffered over 1,000 casualties. After A Company were finally forced to surrender they were held as prisoners of war for a month before they were released. The incident was whitewashed; a political embarrassment for the UN, a martial one for the Irish Army. O'Brien himself was sacked and the Irish government blocked Quinlan's attempts to nominate his men for bravery awards. Despite the fact that they had tactically defeated a larger enemy force the Irish Army refused to recognise the battle at Jadotville. It wasn't until 2005 that an inquiry cleared Quinlan and his men of misconduct and the men's story finally began to be told. Last month the Irish government awarded Quinlan's company a Presidential Unit Citation - the first in the Irish Defense Force's history.
The Siege of Jadotville is Dublin-born director Richie Smyth's first feature film, with the screenplay based on Declan Power's 2005 book 'The Siege at Jadotville: The Irish Army's Forgotten Battle'. Power, a former officer of the Irish Defence Force, collected first hand accounts and archival material for his acclaimed book. Smyth insisted that all actors and extras complete basic military training and a weapons handling course before filming began. As a result when Smyth's cinematography takes us into the trenches with the soldiers and their weapons their skill at arms is convincing. The film deploys an impressive array of period-correct firearms. The Irish force is equipped with Lee-Enfield No.4s, FN FALs, Carl Gustav M45 submachine guns and British Bren guns and Vickers Medium Machine Guns. While the rebels carry the mix of small arms you would expect, everything from World War Two-vintage SMLEs and Mauser K98ks to FN FALs and French MAT 49 submachine guns.
On a narrative level the film's broader character development is somewhat sacrificed to the action with just brief moments of banter and pathos shared between the soldiers. Quinlan's scenes with his wife at the beginning of the film fall into a familiar war movie trope of them dancing to the radio the night before he leaves. Another scene during a lull in the fighting sees another familiar scene play out as a soldier candidly admits to Quinlan that he was scared but he enjoyed killing. This telling scene is quickly passed over as the film returns to action when the rebels attack again. While the Siege of Jadotville is guilty of falling into some of the classic war movie tropes it is an engaging, well made film with a quality cast and at its foundations a classic story of men facing a desperate situation.
At the beginning of the film the UN's Secretary General tells O'Brien "we each have our part to play in history, yours is happening now", he later repeats this to an increasingly irate Quinlan during their radio conversation. The Siege of Jadotville very much focuses on the part the beleaguered Irish soldiers played but disappointingly does little to flesh out the African perspective. This is confined to little more than a smattering of brief scenes with Prime Minister Tshombe's who is portrayed as the overarching antagonist with little attempt made to explain his motivations and Congo's complex political situation. This is in sharp contrast to Netflix's earlier Africa-centric war film, Beasts of No Nation. Smyth is more interested in sharing the story of the men of A Company and the whitewash they suffered following the battle.
The Siege of Jadotville is a beautifully shot and choreographed war film which gives viewers a glimpse of what the desperate defence was like. Most importantly the film spotlights a part of Irish military history which has been shamefully buried and forgotten for over fifty years.