The Truth About Claire

This is the single best production ever to have been made for Irish Television. However - when shown on successive nights in the early 90's, this country was in the grip of an Electricity Suppliers industrial dispute - and the resulting power cuts meant very few people got to see it in its entirety, and for some inexplicable reason it was never shown again. What so many missed was a brilliantly acted, stunningly directed story of an investigation in the suicide of a young girl. It's one of the few examples of how a non-linear narrative can enhance a story. If you get the chance - watch this and then watch Tarantino's movies and ask who is the better film-maker.

Having today read an article in the Irish Times about Peter Hanly, I was reminded of The Truth about Claire, which I saw when it was broadcast in 1991 (which I've just discovered was 2 days before my son was born!).

I remember being very impressed by it, most memorably Peter Hanly's deft treatment of the innocent/gormless Paul, and I think modern audiences - not to mention those of us who were around at the time - would find it very interesting, particularly in light of so much societal change, especially the repealing of the odious 8th amendment to the constitution.

Looking forward to it...

This is not really about Claire at all! It is about the truth and about how it is so different seen through the eyes and retold through the mouths of different people. We see what seems like a docudrama unfolding as each of the tenants in a house recounts their experience of Claire, the young woman who came to stay with Denise before travelling to Britain for an abortion.

Suddenly, when a particular statement is made, the film (video) stops and rewinds. We see the fingers of a film editor (Stembridge himself) replaying the interviewee's comment. This technique has been used many times since but this is no Verfremdungsaffekt. Here the editor is a protagonist (or antagonist) in the film. We see some of these scenes reflected in the lenses of his glasses in his smoky and sinister cutting room.

Over the two episodes we see and hear each housemate's version of events and learn about the baggage and agendas they bring to the story. Then at the end we see the Filmmaker's edited version of the story, which is where the real truth is to be learned.

Although made at a time when Ireland was recovering from a hugely divisive debate on the Right to Life question, this is not a film about abortion. It is a film about the media, what we see in it and how we should question what we see in it.