Tragedy and Fiction. A Thin Line

One of the most horrific crimes of this country's recent history has once again raised its ever growing ugly head. This time in perhaps the most public way possible.

Jack Reynor plays Richard Karlsen

 "What Richard Did" was released in Irish cinemas just over a week ago and has since received mixed reaction. Despite the film-making and direction of Lenny Abrahamson and the acting from title character Jack Reynor receiving great reviews, their film has and will continue to be compared to the real life story of Brian Murphy.

Indeed the film is an adaption of Kevin Power's controversial  novel "A Bad Day in Blackrock" a fictional story with remarkable similarities to that of the Murphy trial.

On 31 august 2000 one of the most brutal attacks ever witnessed in this country resulted in the death of the teen Murphy near Club Anabel of The Burlington hotel in Dublin. The following investigation, trial, and appeals process were akin to that of a soap opera in and of themselves. The blame for such drama being placed solely on the media of the time, who later received fines for their subjective portrayal of the events.

This biased view originated from the believe that the three accused young men were receiving favored treatment from the justice system due to their private schooled backround. A view which was not entirely unfounded.

Died too young; Brian Murphy

The justice system did its job to best of its ability but there had been a cover-up of sorts originally and not by the Gardai or the courts. The cover-up was by the 50 or so people that looked on as a group of up to six or seven people beat and kicked Brian Murphy to death. Of those six or seven, only three are known and were charged. Of those three, one walked free on appeal and had in fact not served any time at all, and two served less than two years in the midlands prison due to a lack of evidence resulting in all manslaughter convictions being quashed, meaning both men will be remembered by the court as having been convicted for violent disorder.

Despite the similarities in his debut book, Kevin Power has always insisted that that the Murphy case was not a part of his research. Although the evidence would suggest differently.

In an uncanny parallel to the Brian Murphy trial, one passage in the novel reads: "One witness remembered seeing a young man rush into the melee at this point and deliver a swinging kick to Conor's chest. Then he ran away. The young man has never been identified."

Kevin Power's controversial book

During the real life trial, one of the defendants, Sean Mackey, admitted to having run into the middle of the group that was kicking Murphy on the ground, delivered one flying kick to the side of his body, and run back out again.
Though Mackey was clearly identified, along with Dermot Laide and Desmond Ryan, the investigating Gardai once stated that they "know there are at least two other people involved walking around free who will never be charged." 

"What Richard Did" director Abrahamson has likewise stated in interviews that the Film was not sourced by the Murphy ordeal. In one interview he said, “From the outset, I think it’s important to say that the film is a fiction and there are no character parallels to real events!” he told Totally Dublin. “We took a book (Bad Day in Blackrock, by Kevin Power), which was itself fictionalised, although resonant with real events, and we took that even further. But I think the privilege of art, and my luxury as an artist, is having people not have immediate, knee-jerk reactions to things.”

 When asked by The Irish Times if he had approached the Murphy family, he responded in the negative, because he sees this as a fictional film.

Advertisement for Film

As a film this work has become yet another iteration of the tragic story. The previous two being that of the media coverage and Power's novel. In all three the focus has always remained on the accused rather than the victim. A fact that prompted, Mary Murphy, the mother of the victim to say on the stand in her victim-impact statement at the end of the original trial;

"Where is my baby in all of this? I can't find him. He's lost, I'm lost. Where is my pride and joy, my full of confidence child, my crazy, exuberant, full of cheer, larger than life child, my naïve, far from perfect child, who did some silly things and some fabulous things?" 

Although this film is, of all the narratives, perhaps the most distant from its cold and brutal "source material", it will continue to struggle to separate itself from its sad and tragic origins. For those who know, of the Murphy story, they will watch  this movie and wonder, "What will the family make of it?", "Will they watch it?", "Do they look away each time an advertising poster is nearby?"

The sad truth is that through all the versions of this story that have been told and through all those that may yet come, the one that resonates more than all is that of Mary Murphy and her family.