By the late eighteenth century, Irish resistance to British rule had been suppressed, but, inspired by the French Revolution's success and its ideals of individual rights and liberty, there was again a call for an independent Irish Republic. Anne Devlin, a farmer's daughter, helped Robert Emmet, the legendary leader of the Dublin uprising, and his comrades plan their doomed revolt. Pat Murphy's elegant, atmospheric portrait of her involvement-the first feature film with cast, crew, and financing all from Ireland-draws on Devlin's prison diaries. She spent three years in solitary confinement refusing to inform on her fellow conspirators, long after many of them had betrayed each other and Emmet had been hung. Silent, she denies herself language, as she has been denied a historical role. As played by Brid Brennan (Dancing at Lughnasa) with an intelligent intensity, the film suggests that it is in such unacknowledged radical acts of resistance that the endurance, courage, and optimism of women gives the independence movement its strength. (KG)