ASCENDANCY

In his first narrative feature, Edward
Bennett weaves a complicated pattern of
political and personal elements.

Belfast 1920. A young woman,
Connie, member of the Protestant ruling
class (‘‘Ascendancy'', as it was known)
spends her days in mourning for her
brother who died fighting on the
Somme. imprisoned in the past, she is
oblivious to the other violence building
around her in her own country.

Through meeting with a young
British Lieutenant, she begins to see the
truth - the inherited chaos that constitutes Irish history from the 1880's, through the I920's, to the present.

Having encountered death and horror
in the streets, Connie's imaginary world
is shattered: no fantasy can be as cruel as
reality. Finally, she shoulders the responsibility for the violence both in her country and the Great War that killed her brother.

It is one of the prevailing qualities of
this film how it takes us to the heart of
today‘s continuing crisis without ever
using the language of contemporary
politics. The images from 60 years ago
are disturbingly familiar.