Saipan hits Irish cinema screens this week, and it revisits one of the biggest controversies in Irish sporting history.
The film returns to the site of the battle between Ireland captain Roy Keane and manager Mick McCarthy ahead of the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan.
Directed by the duo of Lisa Barros D'Sa and Glenn Leyburn (the co-directors of Ordinary Love and Good Vibrations), Saipan stars Steve Coogan as Mick McCarthy and rising star Éanna Hardwicke as a steely-eyed Roy Keane.
The movie delves into the heady atmosphere across the nation as Irish fans were gripped by World Cup fever.
However, from the opening scenes, it is clear that the tensions between the captain and the manager were going to erupt at some point.
"You can look at it and think this was avoidable and how it could have been different," actor Coogan told RTÉ News.
Coogan went on to explain that it is the blood, sweat, and fiery exchanges of the McCarthy-Keane relationship that are at the heart of Saipan, and that the film sets out to unravel a sporting story that still causes heated debates more than two decades later.
Ultimately, it was the breakdown in this vital relationship that led to Keane's departure from the Irish camp on the eve of the World Cup, causing huge controversy back at home and abroad.
As the media worked itself into a frenzy, the fans were torn between their support for either Keane or McCarthy.
Written by Paul Fraser, Saipan is not a documentary, but a dramatic re-imagining of the events of that long, hot summer.
With the film, the cast was keen to show that while there are moments of pure comedy in the story, this epic battle was about two very sincere men with different views on this massive opportunity for the country.
Éanna Hardwicke said he wanted to play Keane because "he was one of the most influential footballers of his generation".
The Cork actor explained that in 2002, it was Keane's last chance to play in a World Cup, "and he clearly has history with the manager, from their pasts when McCarthy was a player, so that is part of Roy's perspective, and that was really interesting to get into".
Coogan sees McCarthy as a man whose attitude to the whole tournament is totally different to Keane's.
He said that McCarthy's attitude "was to be grateful that we were here taking part", and McCarthy thought "that it was a celebration" for Ireland to be there.
Coogan added that his character was a man who had a much more "pragmatic, sort of holistic attitude that conflicts with Roy's competitive, play-to-win approach".
The film also reminds viewers that in Keane's absence, the Irish squad successfully got through to the final 16, ultimately losing on penalties to Spain.
When asked why they wanted to make this film now and revisit this story, Hardwicke said: "I read Paul Fraser's script and it was just so surreal, as it touched on lots of things that were there but that I hadn't really seen when we all lived through it. But what I loved about it was that it looked at this story from an unusual angle."
He added that he was a "big fan" of directors Lisa Barros D'Sa and Glenn Leyburn and knew they would "do something different with this story".
Back in 2002, the story of an irreconcilable row between the two men led to Keane's controversial departure.
While it is clear that Keane's headline-grabbing quote "Fail to prepare, prepare to fail" is key to his character's motivation, actors Coogan and Hardwicke said that it was important that the film looks at all the angles of this, and that McCarthy clearly sees the gaps too, but he is pragmatic about making his way through the football tournament.
Coogan said that while there are "farcical elements to it and the moments are genuinely funny because life is like that", for him, "it is about a real conversation about what it is to be, how he's (McCarthy) supposed to behave as a human being, and it touches on Irish identity and how you reconcile being an individual with being a representative of your nation".
He said that the exploration of "the conflicts of the different things about how it feels to be an Irish person in the world - and what your relationship with the rest of the world is - is what makes the film, to me, interesting and enjoyable to watch. But it also equally was enjoyable to play out that argument, in a way."
Finally, Coogan points to the impact that the tensions in the relationship between the two men had on their row, explaining that the story is about "how communication can break down irrevocably, and there's a lesson in that, because you can look at it and think this was avoidable".
"It was almost like the perfect storm of miscommunication," he said.
At one point in the film, McCarthy yells, "You're unmanageable!" to Keane, and Keane responds, "And you can't manage!"
The actors say that Saipan grapples with both these perspectives, and that they hope that viewers will sit back, watch, and enjoy it.
After the lights come up, the arguments are sure to begin again!
Saipan has been released in cinemas nationwide.
