A nightmare happened at the Dreamland Ballroom. And Danny, the saxaphone player was the only witness. It was a jolting look at a time of violence that at first horrified him. Then fascinated him. Then ultimately seduced him.


This film, originally titled Angel, is not about the IRA, but is set in Northern Ireland in the early days of the civil rights protests. The main character, Danny, is a musician and must travel to new places around the country. Because of the political climate, he must carefully ferret out the political leaning of each person he meets. "Are you a convent girl," Danny asks a woman he wants to pick up. Not until she refers to Protestants as "they" does he dare approach her. One can see the roots of The Crying Game in this earlier work by Neil Jordan. He shows us that in the North everyone was on tender hooks, and uses this to explain why Danny, a mild mannered man, goes on a rampage when he witnesses a murder.