Kneecap are a rap group from Belfast, known for their use of the Irish language and for bold lyrics that tackle social and political issues in Northern Ireland. Written and directed by former journalist and Englishman Rich Peppiatt, the film Kneecap stars the group as characters based on themselves, and observes their rise from grassroots activism to becoming a powerful voice in the Irish music scene.
Ahead of its theatrical release, FILMHOUNDS sat down with Peppiatt to talk about why this was a story he wanted to tell as an outsider, Michael Fassbender's enthusiasm for Kneecap's music, and the lasting legacy he'd like the film to have.
Going into Kneecap, before I knew anything other than that they were a real group, or anything about you, I assumed it was all a bit of an inside job. Now knowing that you didn't know them beforehand, I'm interested to know how it all came together — why you wrote it and when they became part of the project?
They were certainly part of it since day one. I went to one of their gigs and kind of just felt there was something special about them and their story, and the impact they were having on the Irish-speaking community in Belfast. I'd moved to the north of Ireland a few weeks before I met them and I was very much on the lookout for a story to get my teeth into and it was right there in front of me.
I used to be a journalist and I think that once you've got that nose for a story it doesn't really go away. There was something really interesting about what they were doing on a grassroots level, compared to this political stasis that was happening at Stormont. Recognition of the Irish language was just not happening and they stood as this energetic, loud, controversial force who were pushing for it.
I know you were born in England, but do you have any Irish heritage?
No, no Irish heritage at all. I married an Irish woman, and the first time I stepped foot on the island of Ireland was fifteen years ago when I went to meet her family. It was a little bit like that Mitchell and Webb sketch where they're dressed as Nazis and they're going “Oh, we're the bad guys aren't we?” I'd gone to school and done the obligatory chapter on Irish history, but going out to Belfast, there was a whole other narrative that made a lot more sense.
It's funny that you mentioned that sketch because watching Kneecap as a British person did initially have me feeling like the outsider on the side of the oppressor. Then I realised that actually there's a lot for me to relate to — something as simple as being working-class and from east London, I even get tetchy about people telling me to pronounce an ‘H' properly. So extrapolating that feeling to the idea of having a whole language to be protective of was my way in I think.
Well, I think one thing that we connected on is that we're all working-class lads from different places. We're all lads that wear tracksuits, who've been involved in street culture and drugs and things like that. We're all that kind of person that's often reflected on screen or in popular culture as the butt of the joke. It's always that thing of being criminally inept and stupid. But we wanted to do something where a person could be from that background and be involved in those things, but also be politically erudite, witty, smart, and, most importantly, have a perspective.
And it being about real people who actually have those qualities must've made your job easier. I did also hear that there was quite a bit of method acting?
Actually Michael Fassbender made that worse. It was a real coup to get him in the film, but when he turned up he was already a big fan of Kneecap. The problem is that when you get them in a room together and there's a bar in that room, their drinking just carries on to all hours. There was a couple of occasions when we were staying at hotels and it'd get to 2 o'clock in the morning, they'd all be singing and drinking and I'd be like “Off to bed, shall we?” But they'd just tell me to shut the fuck up ‘cause they're method actors and they should still be a bit drunk when they're filming. There are certainly a lot of scenes in the film where they're still off their faces but I think they get away with it.
Were there any creative struggles between you all?
They were all adamant they needed to be the lead. I tried to hear them out and to go and search for tri-protagonist films, but to be honest I couldn't find any. You could maybe argue that Goodfellas is? But not really. And I just thought well if no one's ever done one, maybe it's because it's a shit idea. So that was a challenge.
On top of that, I remember a rip-roaring row we had when it was revealed that Liam Óg would be the narrator. They were all shouting about how they wanted to be the one to do the narration and I was like “Lads, it's not that simple.” But they just had to accept that the story only worked if Liam did the narration, and they had to shut up.
Because you started in journalism, moved into documentaries, told your own story in One Rogue Reporter, and now you've made a semi-biographical film as your debut feature, I wondered what it is about true stories that you're drawn to?
I'm someone who would probably struggle to start with a completely blank page. I like to have something based in the real world to build off. I know when the lads were thinking about whether they wanted to work with me or not they watched One Rogue Reporter, and I think they felt that the kind of outsider, controversial spirit that's in that film resonated with them.
Sometimes you don't really realise where something will lead you, and One Rogue Reporter was a very lo-fi, low-budget documentary that's very close to my heart. The credit list for it is embarrassing, it's me and my mate. But to get an independent film made is a labour of love, you just have to completely dedicate yourself to getting it made. Then once you've seen something like that through to fruition, you start believing it's possible to do it again.
So did you go into writing Kneecap confident that you could get it made?
Well, there was rejections along the way, but once we got to a point where it being made became possible I knew I just had to throw everything at it. Now I don't particularly care even if it falls on its arse, because even if it's a disaster I can say I did it my way. Not to quote what's-his-name.
Frank Sinatra.
Frank Sinatra.
I don't get the impression it is falling on its arse, though. You've even had some attention from [a national newspaper].
The [national newspaper] did a hit piece on us before it had even premiered at Sundance. They did a whole feature about the disgusting fact that the British Film Institute had put money into this anti-British film, and no one had even seen it yet. That says a lot about [the national newspaper], though, the fact they hadn't seen it but they'd already decided it's disgusting is a sad indictment of how the media works.
I think we should be able to recognise our colonial past, and recognise that it's still having an effect on Indigenous people without having to hate our country. Kneecap themselves would always point out they don't hate British people, they hate the British state and what that stands for. Certainly, if they hated British people they wouldn't spend five years working with me. At one point they did say I was the only English person they liked, but that was quite a few years ago and I think they've expanded that list now.
Anyway, it's an education thing — you don't really learn about real Irish history in British schools. You've only got to look at a map to see Ireland's Ireland and England's not that place. It doesn't make any sense for a bit of one island to be owned by the island next door. If an alien dropped down from Mars tomorrow and you asked them what country that is, they'd go “Well that's Ireland.”
Do you think that's the lasting legacy you'd like Kneecap to have, that education piece?
Yeah. To me, the best films do have an element of education in them. I now hope that it can maybe make people reflect on their relationship with their own culture, because it is about the Irish language but it's stuff that's applicable to so much more. We've had people talking to us from all sorts of backgrounds — Native Americans, South East Asians, people from all sorts of places, all saying that this has really resonated with them. We've had people tell us this has made them reflect on their mother tongue and their culture and that it's made them want to reconnect with it all, and that's a really cool thing. I didn't really set out to do that but sometimes when you tell a really specific story it becomes a much more universal narrative.
Kneecap is out now in UK and Irish cinemas.
