Hidden Agenda was released in 1990 by Hemdale Film Corporation(UK) and Initial (II) (UK).
Paul Sullivan is an American civil rights lawyer and political activist visiting Northern Ireland with his wife Ingrid Jessner. During his visit, a member of the provisional IRA contacts him about a secret cassette tape and Sullivan is shot in his car. Investigator Peter Kerrigan who is assisted by Ingrid investigates the killing. The investigation reveals that the two men were shot without adequate warning and assumed to be assassinated; Sullivan for his alleged knowledge of the tape. The mysterious recording is found and discovered to have been made by a Captain Harris, an ex-army intelligence officer, now in hiding. The tape consists of senior military leaders and Conservative Party politicians talking about how they were responsible for the rise to power of Margaret Thatcher. After some time, Harris gives a copy of the tape to Ingrid, but British security forces kill Captain Harris, but blame his death on the IRA. Kerrigan is blackmailed into silence about the conspiracy. By the end of the film, Jessner still has the tape, but without Harris to confirm, the recording is virtually of no use in getting justice for her late husband.
The portrayal of the IRA in film tends to depict them as either tragic heroes, victims of British tyranny, or the criminal underbelly of the UK. In Hidden Agenda, members of the IRA and those supporting the organization are seekers of justice and truth with the common goal of exposing the corruption of the Thatcher administration. A specialized section of the English military, the MI5, are the only ones in the film responsible for any death or violence. This depiction, not uncommon in film and television, presents an inaccurate and purposefully distorted account of both the IRA and British paramilitaries in order to manipulate audience perceptions. Hidden Agenda is not so much explicitly responsible for evoking sympathy for the IRA because that is a natural jump to make when a film efficiently works to demonize the British government. Here is a scene where Ingrid and Peter Kerrigan discuss British involvement in the North. The film is worth note because of director Ken Loach’s noted interest in social issues. In Hidden Agenda, Loach, an Englishman himself, challenges British authoritarianism under Margaret Thatcher in response to The Troubles. In this way, it is distinct from other British media responses, which generally tended to demonize the IRA in favor of the British government and Protestant majority.
Ingrid Jessner and Peter Kerrigan discussing the state of the North and the British paramilitary.
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