The Crying Game

The Crying Game (1992) is a British film directed by Neil Jordan. The acclaimed cast included Stephen Rea, Miranda Richardson, Forest Whitaker, Jaye Davidson, Jim Broadbent and Adrian Dunbar. The film explores themes of race, nationality and sexuality against the background of England at the time of the Northern Irish Troubles. The original working title of this film was The Soldier's Wife.

The film was originally made for British television but was given a cinematic release after some good reviews. It was a sleeper hit in the U.S.A, where it was received to critical acclaim and went on to be nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Writer-director Neil Jordan won an Oscar for his screenplay.

Plot

SPOILER Warning!: The following tells the end of the movie.

The film begins as a psychological thriller, as IRA foot soldier Fergus (played by Stephen Rea) kidnaps Jody, a black British soldier (played by Forest Whitaker). While Fergus guards Jody they develop some kind of bond. Jody is killed when he attempts to flee. During Jody's flight, the IRA team encounters a British army unit and is apparently massacred, except for Fergus.

Later, while living in London under an assumed identity taken to avoid IRA revenge, Fergus meets Jody's attractive girlfriend Dil (Jaye Davidson) at a hair salon and begins an unexpected romantic relationship with her. He pursues Dil, after meeting her, protecting her from an obsessive suitor and gradually falling in love. Later, when he is about to make love to her in her apartment, he discovers that she has a penis and is in fact a trans woman. His initial reaction is of revulsion. Rushing to the bathroom to throw up, he accidentally hits Dil in the face, leaving a bruise, and leaving her on the floor by herself. A few days later, Fergus leaves Dil a note, and the two make up. Despite everything, Dil is still attracted to him.

Around the same time, Jude, the female IRA soldier who was part of the group that Fergus was involved with and who survived the massacre, unexpectedly reappears in Fergus' apartment. She tells him that the IRA has tried and convicted him in absentia. She forces him to agree to help with a new mission to aid in assassinating a well-known official. She also offhandedly mentions that she knows about Fergus and Dil, warning him that the IRA will kill her if he doesn't cooperate.

Dil prevents Fergus from leaving the house on the day of the assassination by tying him to her bed. Jude returns with plans to kill him and instead gets killed by Dil in a gunfight. Fergus convinces Dil to flee and takes the blame, along with the prison sentence, for Jude's murder. The film ends with Dil visiting Fergus in prison, talking with Fergus about plans once he gets out of jail. She asks him why he took the fall for her in the first place. Fergus responds, "As a man once said, it's in my nature."

Tidbits

• Tagline: Play At Your Own Risk
• The Crying Game is a 1968 novel by John Braine.

External links

• The Crying Game -- Some information provided in whole or in part by "The Internet movie base www.imdb.com"

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