'Ransom 79' is a thrilling yarn and a moving biopic all in one

As his health and physical faculties begin to deteriorate, veteran journalist Charlie Bird embarks on what will be his final story - uncovering the identity of a gang of extortionists who threatened to unleash a catastrophic virus across Ireland unless a ransom of £5,000,000 was paid to them by the Irish government. Interviewing key political figures, revolutionaries, criminals, and detectives from the era who were directly involved, Bird and director Colm Quinn piece together an unbelievable story, all while his condition worsens and as his time runs out...

'Ransom 79' is often a strange experience to watch. For one, the story itself -when fully revealed from end to end - is truly the stuff of paperback thrillers. Indeed, the re-enactments peppered throughout the runtime are shot in grainy black and white as the timeline reads out in type on screen. There are moments when Charlie Bird, a veteran journalist of nearly four decades, can't even believe what he's hearing. The story was largely unreported and, even if it's something of a damp squib of an ending, it's exactly the kind of yarn that old hacks would spin to cub reporters within a smoke-filled corner of a disreputable watering hole somewhere in town.

Mixed with this, however, is a moving and frank depiction of a person dealing with a terminal illness who is fighting it with all of his strength, and doing the only thing he knows best - being a journalist. Through the use of a voicebank, Bird's questions still probe and dissect the people directly attached and involved in the investigation. It's a joy to see him in action, on the hunt and sharp as ever, but what's more fascinating is how nearly every interviewee is truly in awe of Bird himself. One interviewee, a former IRA commander no less, grips his hand in gratitude afterwards and calls him "a man of great courage". That's really what Charlie Bird was; an honest broker, and a tough journalist who knew no fear, not even when facing his own death.

The documentary is structured and formal, though some levity and moments of humour break in between them. Colm Quinn's approach to the story itself is forensic and clear, and there's a real sense of focus to it. There's a dozen different strands that 'Ransom 79' could have easily been caught up in - the factionalism of left-wing republicanism in Ireland, Charlie Bird's own socialist leanings and how they intersected with the story, the outlaw underground of Ireland - yet the efficiency and discipline in the storytelling keeps it focused. Indeed, Quinn only breaks from it when addressing Bird's deteriorating health, and even then, it's as it relates to his own ability to finish the story. There's a moment, relatively early on in fact, when Bird matter-of-factly tells Quinn on camera that they need to plan for the possibility that he will likely not live to see the final result of their investigation.

Though he may have passed over, 'Ransom 79' stands as a testament to Charlie Bird as a journalist to the end - ever determined, faithful to the story, and a man who knew how to tell a story.