The General

“The General”

The General is classical in form and structure, right down to the use of black and white cinematography. Apart from the fact that this particular classical gangster tale is set in contemporary Dublin and manages to involve several major social and political threads defining urban Irish life, it is also inflected with the director's concerns in his country that he focuses on major issues that affect it.

The movie establishes motivation for Cahill's adult behaviors and paints a realistic, ultimately tortured portrait of the charismatic title character. Based on the events in the life of Dublin Crime lord Martin Cahill, of which some are true and some are myth, the film follows the standard rise-and-fall structure of the classical gangster film. A start with Cahill’s death, then goes back to Cahill’s young thief life and continues from then on, ending up again in Cahill’s death. While the idea of a Robin Hood-like aspects of Cahill's actions earned him certain esteem amongst the poor of Ireland and enjoyment from film audience. Cahill’s actions does not let us forget that the man was, in no uncertain terms, a ruthless and violent criminal, not beyond brutally crucifying one of his own gang members on a billiards table.

Cahill was a tough, ruthless, cunning and highly intelligent character who was as good a husband and father as he was a criminal. Martin Cahill was a real person. He didn't drink or smoke, had a loving if unconventional family life with his wife, her sister and their kids, didn't womanize. He also was clever, funny, charismatic, ruthless, and, up until the end, a successful criminal. He didn't see his crimes as good, just as an occupation. In addition to hundreds of burglaries and thefts beginning when he was a teen, he was smart enough to pull off two great robberies, the first involving a large number of gold bars and jewels, the other of extremely valuable paintings. He wound up on the bad side of the cops, of the IRA, of the Unionists and even of one of his gang members. He succeeded highly in his criminal tasks and as a result to a certain extent he even earned a fair amount of admiration from the police. As a result we view Cahill both as a villain and as a sympathetic character.

Cahill was the mastermind of a series of audacious robberies, leading for the audience to want more ingenuity. Gangster films require the audience to admire their criminal protagonists, but they do not suggest that their actions should be done. As many gangster films, The General acknowledges