Rebellion - The Complete Series (RTE) [Region 2]

Like all iconic events, the 1916 Rebellion in Ireland excites a wide variety of interpretations, opinions, perspectives and beliefs. These not only apply to the event itself, but to every book, paper, thesis, discussion and dramatic production focusing on it. The plethora of views and opinions on the Rebellion series made by RTE television on the centenary of the Easter Rising is very much a case in point.Swayed by the significant body of negative reviews this series garnered when it first appeared, I did not rush to view it myself. Now, over three years later, I have finally caught up with it. And I am extremely glad I did. Yes, it has a number of shortcomings and imperfections. Given the subject matter, and the nature of any undertaking dealing with it, to do otherwise would be virtually impossible. However, taken as a whole, it is a fine piece of work, and well worth investing around five hours of your time in viewing it.The approach of looking at major events through the eyes of a small, representative sample of those living through them is not new. But it is a rather good way of getting a sense of what it was like to be there at the time. And in my opinion Rebellion does this very well. It has also cleverly chosen to look at these events from a female perspective. I thought this was both refreshing, and extremely worthwhile. Women played a much more important role in the events of 1916, and the years that followed, than they were given credit for at the time. Indeed it is only in the past dozen years or so that any significant attention or analysis has been devoted to this fact. And not a moment too soon!It must have been tempting to those tasked with the responsibility of creating a flagship television drama about the Easter Rebellion to follow the well-trodden path of focusing on the big events, the dramatic set-piece confrontations and the heroic stand against overwhelming odds. It is not as immediately appealing to keep the focus smaller and more intimate given the public nature of what happened. I was pleased to see attention and prominence being given to those who had fought on the Western Front and who felt aggrieved by what they saw as the treachery of the rebels. Pleased also that the ridicule and scathing criticism heaped upon the rebels was not underplayed. Dublin in 1916 was a city full of confusion, contradiction, argument and fragmentation, where entire families fell out with each other as different members were swayed by the arguments of one or other of the prevailing political ideologies - republican, home-rule, loyalist, socialist, imperialist - of the time . I thought the series conveyed this very successfully. As did it in bravely showing something of the squalor and poverty-stricken reality of inner-city Dublin communities at that time.Shortcomings and errors included a tendency to drift into modern terminology ('amazing'), deploy 21st century forms of greeting (males hugging males, females air-kissing, tactile fathers), ascribe a greater degree of enlightenment towards cross-denominational relationships than would ever have existed in early 20th century Ireland, and wandered into soap-like storylines in one or two places. But these are relatively minor criticisms and are vastly outweighed by the overall quality of the production. One must also appreciate that the majority of those watching this series want to be entertained as well as enlightened, and do not want a five hour history lesson.The Irish writer and commentator Fintan O'Toole once wrote what I consider the be THE most relevant comment on the 1916 rebellion. 'So why is this relatively minor disturbance so potent? Precisely because it is so hard to say what it means. It is one of those events that has a protean quality – it continually changes its shape'. Rebellion, the series, copes well with these shifting perspectives, and is all the better for doing so.Five stars!

The series shows the Easter Rising which took place in 1916 and which was the beginning of Ireland's independence from the United Kingdom.The series follows three women.Elizabeth, who is a medical student and lives in a rich household.May, who originally comes from Cork, works at the Castle and has an affair with an Englishman andFrances, who is an Irish language teacher who comes from a poor family and is an illegitimate child.Through these three women the viewer gets an insight in the course of the events and how much they are connected with each other individually.The series is very well played by notable Irish actors like Brian Gleeson, Charlie Murphy and Ruth Bradley and has a sequel called "Resistance".Both series are highly recommended.

A pity that this series had too many soap opera ingredients, like prostitutes and liaisons. The 1916 Rising was merely the background. The prevailing political attitudes were well illustrated, however.

I'm about to watch episode 5 of Rebellion. I struggled for a word to describe my disappointment with the series! It lacked historical accuracy and I was more concerned with the fate of the 3 girls than anything else! 'Underwhelmed' is a great word! I have borrowed it from kn1's review! As a mum of a 15 year old boy, I wouldn't want him watching this even though it is rated 15 and he's studying Irish history of the Easter Rising in school. The sex scenes are unnecessary and only there for higher viewing figures I think. It just put me off.

This is a brilliantly atmospheric reconstruction of the events of Easter 1916, with gorgeous cinematography and period detail. The acting is first class. 10/10.

Well told and well acted drama, recommended to anybody who is interested in historical drama

Set in Dublin during the Easter rebellion of 1916 it tells the story of what happened. Well acted and a fine script and shot at actual locations. Good eye for historical period detail. Well worth watching. Adult themes. Recommended

Although much of the story was fiction, the background story of the Easter Rising was well portrayed. I particularly liked the way the role of women in the Rising was highlighted, as history often forgets the important part they played.