Four Days in July is a 1985 television film by Mike Leigh

Mike Leigh

Michael "Mike" Leigh, OBE is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid 1960s...

. Set and filmed in Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

, the film explores the Troubles

The Troubles

The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...

 by following the daily lives of two couples on either side of Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

's religious divide, both expecting their first children. The film's action unfolds over 10-13 July 1984; the two couples' children are both born on 12 July, the date of a Protestant celebration in Northern Ireland known as the Twelfth

The Twelfth

The Twelfth is a yearly Protestant celebration held on 12 July. It originated in Ireland during the 18th century. It celebrates the Glorious Revolution and victory of Protestant king William of Orange over Catholic king James II at the Battle of the Boyne...

. Despite the politically charged setting, the film is uniquely uneventful, at least on the surface; Paul Clements writes that "It is hard to identify any full length work by Leigh in which less of consequence seems to happen." Broadcast once in January of 1985, it was Leigh's last film for the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

.

Cast and crew

The film stars Paula Hamilton and Charles Lawson

Charles Lawson

Charles Lawson is a Northern Irish film and television actor.-Early life and education:He was born Quintin Charles Devenish Lawson in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland,...

 as the Protestant couple, Lorraine and Billy, and Brid Brennan

Brid Brennan

Brid Brennan is an Irish actress, best known for her theatre work. She was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland.-Theatre work:Brennan created the role of Agnes Mundy in Brian Friel's play Dancing at Lughnasa. She played the role in the original Dublin, West End and Broadway productions, winning a...

 and Des McAleer as the Catholic couple, Collette and Eugene. Stephen Rea

Stephen Rea

Stephen Rea is an Irish film and stage actor. Rea has appeared in high profile films such as V for Vendetta, Michael Collins, Interview with the Vampire and Breakfast on Pluto...

, Eileen Pollock

Eileen Pollock

Eileen Pollock is a Northern Irish actress.-Career:She is probably best known for playing the part of 'Lilo' Lill in Carla Lane's comedy Bread, she has also appeared in such productions as Play for Tomorrow , After You've Gone , Far and Away , and most recently, Wild About Harry, in 2000.Other...

, B.J. Hogg, and Shane Connaughton

Shane Connaughton

Shane Connaughton is an Irish writer and actor, probably best known as co-writer of the Academy Award-nominated screenplay for My Left Foot. He also co-wrote the screenplays for the Academy Award-winning 1980 short film The Dollar Bottom and 1992 film The Playboys, as well as other screenplays and...

 appear in secondary roles. The film's music was composed by Rachel Portman

Rachel Portman

Rachel Mary Berkeley Portman, OBE is a British composer, best known for her film work. She was the first female composer to win an Academy Award in the category of Best Original Score...

.

Reception

In 2009 The Times

The Times

The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

 Kevin Maher praised the film as a "must-see movie for anyone with a compassionate interest in an 800-year-old political sore." Shane Connaughton, screenwriter of My Left Foot

My Left Foot (film)

My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown is a 1989 drama film directed by Jim Sheridan and starring Daniel Day-Lewis. It tells the true story of Christy Brown, an Irishman born with cerebral palsy, who could control only his left foot. Christy Brown grew up in a poor, working class family, and...

  called it, " easily the most interesting picture I've seen about Northern Ireland since the troubles started. Apart from John Arden

John Arden

John Arden is an award-winning English playwright from Barnsley . His works tend to expose social issues of personal concern. He is a member of the Royal Society of Literature....

 and Margaretta D'Arcy

Margaretta D'Arcy

Margaretta Ruth D'Arcy , an Irish actress, writer, playwright, and peace-activist. Margaretta is a member of Aosdána since its inauguration and is known for addressing Irish nationalism, civil liberties, and women's rights in her work....

's The Ballygomben Bequest (1972), I can't think of any play or film that has gone into it so successfully in any deep way at all."