Born in Sligo County, Ireland on February 15, 1950, Jordan grew up in a lower middle class in a very Catholic area. His family was educated, and despite his twisted on-screen creations, Jordan had a happy childhood. He claims that Ireland's "sweet irrationality" inspired him to go into writing, beginning with short fictional stories. Jordan later broke into the film world in 1981 as a script consultant before writing and directing his first film, Angel. Then, in 1986, Jordan won critical acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival for Mona Lisa. Six years later, Jordan wrote and directed the Oscar winning film The Crying Game, solidifying his place among acclaimed filmmakers in Hollywood. The popular Interview with the Vampire followed, and finally, Michael Collins.
Michael Collins was born October 16th, 1890 in the village of County Cork on his father's farm. He was the youngest of eight, and unlike many other revolutionary figureheads, Collins childhood was comfortable. Although the living conditions of the old farmhouse were not spectacular, the Collins family was happy by all accounts. Several aunts and uncles, on both his father's side of the family and from his mother's side, also called the farmhouse home, or frequently stayed there for extended periods of time. When this large family gathered together every night for dinner, the entertainment often came in the form of spirited political debate (the farm house had no electricity, so there was no radio, T.V., etc. for amusement purposes). Relatives on his mother's side had a great impact on young Michael's mind during this time; his uncle John would sing rebel songs, and his grandmother Johanna told stories of the Great Famine, including gruesome tales of seeing people dying of starvation on the side of the road. In December of 1896, Michael Collins father, whom he was named after and "revered," suffered a serious heart attack that he never truly recovered from. A few months later, in March of the following year, the elder Michael Collins told his son that he would "be a great man yet, and will do great things for Ireland" (according to the journals of his Collin's sister, Helena). The impact that his father's dying words must have been tremendous, given that he idolized his father and Collins was at the vulnerable age of six. In hindsight, his youth seemed to guide Michael Collins down the path of politics, and combined with the pressure of living up to his father's lofty proclamation, it is no wonder that he blossomed into the man he became.
Throughout Collins' education, the molding of a leader continued. In his early schooling, the headmaster was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) with whom Collins himself credits with "infusing into [him] a pride of the Irish as a race." Dennis Lyons, the headmaster, also wowed Collins with stories of Previous Irish rebellions. These tales of the Great Famine, the Young Ireland Rebellion, and political occurrences of the 1870's and 1880's struck a chord with Collins since his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and most importantly, his father, all had endured these hardships.
After graduating from Lisavaird National School, and leaving the guide of Dennis Lyons, Collins moved to London, joined Sinn Fein, and also wrote several inflammatory papers. The first of these papers critiqued the church and called for the extermination of the clergy, an idea which was none too popular to his British contemporaries. Collins also openly blamed the Great Famine on the British. Then, following a Sinn Fein party member loss in an important election, Collins began to lose faith in non-violent methods of change. This lead him to leave England for Ireland and lend his service to the IRB for an upcoming insurrection.
Collins' participation in the infamous Easter Rebellion was not in an official leadership position at first, but his character, determination, and devotion to the cause quickly won him many followers. After the poorly organized battle ended, Collins found himself in jail. While in jail, Collins became acquainted with several soon-to-be prominent figures in Irish politics including Sean T. O'Kelley (future president of the Republic of Ireland) and Domhnall O Buachalla (future Governor-General of the Irish Free State). Collins never lost his patriotic spirit during his time in jail. When he got out, he worked out payment plans for all of the released prisoners to travel back to Ireland, a task he was able to perform through his new position as Secretary of Irish National Aid and Volunteers Dependants Fund. Immediately after leaving jail, Collins quickly built up his reputation as an agitator by defending Irish political prisoners and his fiery public addresses.
After the "German Plot," an allegation by the British that Sinn Fein was aiding the Germans and which allowed for the arrests of several of the party's leaders, Collins emerged as the leader of the IRB and Sinn Fein. However, Collins quickly found himself in jail once again when he was charged with several counts of "inciting a crowd" stemming from the over 1,800 public rallies Sinn Fein held, but he was soon granted release. He knew at this time that he could not accomplish his goals without help, spurring him to mastermind and personally participate in the jailbreak of Eamon de Valera, one of the largest Irish political figureheads of the time. Until this time, the British had not taken the Irish rebellions too seriously, but that soon changed with the threat of Collins and Valera working together. Although these two were not particularly close, and even differed on the path Ireland should take on its way to independence, the British acted with haste.
The establishment of the Dail Eireann, the legislative body of the unrecognized "Irish Republic," allowed Collins to take on a more significant and prominent role in the ongoing struggle. He was appointed by De Valera to the Minister of Finance and was able to secure a national loan to finance this fledgling government. Shortly after this time, Collins increased his guerilla activities, which, upon escalation between his side and the British, lead to Collins "Squad" (a semi-military group, similar to secret police) killing 19 British Secret Service Officers. By doing so, Collins effectively neutralized the British ability to gather intelligence since these men were all political spies. In another famous Collins escapade, he broke into the police headquarters and was able to read all of the files on his associates and was able to warn them of an upcoming sweep and any intel the police had on them. Collins then knew what the police were up to, but they weren't able to raise any intelligence on him or his movement. Collins became bolder in his efforts, and ordered attacks on official British barracks that were extremely successful. In addition, he also brazenly planned the assassination of Lord French, the head of Britain's forces. After a failed attempt on his life, Lord French had to go into hiding, much to the joy of the Irish. Instead of the British having Collins running scared and isolated, he had their most prestigious figurehead afraid to leave his home. With the new military leverage that Collins had assembled, the British were more open to negotiation.
As the British seemed more open to a solution that would suit the Irish, it became increasingly obvious that the Irish needed a strong presence at the negotiating table. Dáil Éireann appointed Collins as its representative to the Anglo-Irish treaty, which after some deliberation, he chose to ratify. Unfortunately, De Valera and his followers did not feel that the treaty was sufficient; Collins and De Valera, who had clashed in their political views earlier in the struggle, were once again at odds. In a close vote, the Pro-Treaty party defeated the dissenting party, triggering civil war in Ireland. Thrust again into a leadership role, Michael Collins was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Free State Party (compromised of supporters of the Treaty). In this role, he finally fell, as he was shot while on a military visit.
Throughout history, one would be hard-pressed to find an individual that in such a short time (about 6 years) was able to have such a pronounced impact on his country. From the time he chose to leave London for the Uprising in London (1916), until his death in 1922, Michael Collins devoted himself to breaking Ireland free of British rule. His efforts in the areas of warfare, politics, espionage, and negotiation were essential to the Independence of Ireland, as was his presence as a determined leader. He was able to rally his people to his cause like not many men have been able to do. Although he died before being able to see the total fruits of his labor, Michael Collins legacy lies in the existence of an independent Irish nation.
The movie Michael Collins is biographical account of the famous Irish revolutionary. It begins with the infamous "Easter Rising" of 1916, and follows Collins ascent through the ranks of the newly formed Irish State. Although the movie does a good job of covering the most important events from Collins' life, there are cases of exaggeration and over-dramatization. Jordan covers several of the points from the 'Background' section, such as the rounding up of Sinn Fein's members, Collins' rise as a public speaker, participating in Eamon De Valera's escape from prison, breaking into police headquarters to gather intel, the killing of the British secret police, and even his touchy relationship with Valera. All of these points are critical for a viewer to fully grasp the scope of Collins' accomplishments. However, the portrayal of De Valera as a villian-esque character is a product of Hollywood drama. It is true that Collins' and De Valera did have a semi-adversial relationship, De Valera was not the slimy, evil man he was portrayed as. Their relationship can compared to Martin Luther King and Malcolm X; both men wanted the same thing, but they had different opinions as to how to achieve that goal. They did not agree, but they agreed that both were working for the right cause. It would make more sense if the British were depicted as more of an enemy than De Valera was. Further, as much as a love plot is important in the movie business, Collins wasn't known for his romantic endeavors. Most scholars remember him as uninterested in female company, and some go as far as to allege homosexuality. Regardless of his sexuality either way, Collins' stands out because of his military prowess, not for a love story. Finally, Michael Collins death was not nearly as sexy nor romantic as the movie made it out to be. He was ambushed on a military trip, but De Valera was not luring him into the mountains as the movie hints. Not only was Collins' death not as much of a trap as it seems, but he was not struck cleanly by a sniper; Michael Collins was struck by a ricochet bullet during the gun fight.
Jordan certainly was concerned with maintaining as much of the historical accuracy of Collins' story as he could while still making a marketable movie. Jordan successfully brought Collins' story to mainstream mass media without compromising his views regarding Irish Independence. It was not a pleasant story and western powers were portrayed accurately, instead of in a totally positive manner. Jordan was able to aviod the pitfalls of Hollywood without sacrificing important elements of Collins' important story.