If the average cinemagoer sits down to watch the movie Saipan, unaware of the incident that inspired it, then an immediate montage of frantic radio soundbites does a nifty job at setting the scene before we’ve even seen a single image. Premiering at the Toronto film festival, it’s likely that might be the case for many international attenders here, and the Irish directors Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sa set themselves the lofty task of translating the overwhelming scale of a very 2002 tabloid scandal for those who weren’t knee-deep in the hows and whys. Words like soap and drama are thrown around, while one commentator compares the public outcry to that seen after the death of Princess Diana. How did a fight over cheese sandwiches turn into such a frenzy?
At its heart, Saipan is a workplace drama about the danger of mismanagement and the inescapability of office politics, it pulses with the relatable anger that erupts from the feeling of unfair treatment. It just so happens that the workplace is the world of football and the warring employees are two highly paid household names reaching boiling point as the World Cup looms. Steve Coogan is Mick McCarthy, a player turned manager, taking charge of the Republic of Ireland team as they make a rare appearance in a global tournament they’re not typically associated with (it was their third, and to date most recent, World Cup). The media is perhaps rightfully crediting this to the involvement of Roy Keane, played by Éanna Hardwicke, whose success as part of Manchester United has levelled the national team up, whether McCarthy likes to admit it or not. They have a spotty history (we hear a brief reference to an on-pitch spar years prior) but both are entering a crucial period on best behaviour, aware of the many eyes on them. Longtime Shane Meadows collaborator Paul Fraser’s script lightly stacks up bones of contention in the months before flying us to Saipan, the location of a poorly defined team trip that’s part gameplay prep and part R&R. Keane, an often humourless workhorse, is already struggling to play ball, annoyed at the ostentatious excess of the Football Association of Ireland and unsure of McCarthy’s decision-making.
