The Treaty

This is by far a better dramatization of Michael Collins than the Neil Jordan film. Brendan Gleeson is wonderful as Collins and even looks much like him. I found it ironic that he was still not a big enough "name" for Jordan to cast him as Collins, yet he was cast as Collins' companion on his last fatal journey home.

Jordan's Michael Collins passed over Collins' role in the negotiations that created the Itish Free State, although it did reference it. Jordan picked the story up again with Collins' return from England and the rejection of the treaty by the die-hard Republicans as the prelude to the Civil War that cost Collins his life. The Treaty goes a long way to explaining how the divisive situation came about.

I taped The Treaty from TV and have viewed it over and over. I would really love to see it issued as a DVD.