The main purpose of the documentary The Madness From Within is to explain why the civil war started in Ireland and what were the consequences of it. As a documentary the movie uses a wide range of sources to discuss, and present the Civil war: people who have witnessed the event, historians, professors, and documentary footages from the event.

For me it was interesting that the documentary involved opinions of both people who are anti-treaty and pro-treaty proponents, which in my view makes the movie politically unbiased. What I also found interesting are the stories, which people who have witnessed the event told in the documentary. For example, Joseph Duhig recalls a sad event from the civil war. He tells us how he witnessed the death of the two young soldiers, who were wounded in a machinegun ambush. It is a personal story which shows the dark side of the civil war- the death, and the destruction. The discussion in the documentary about the death penalty, which was used by the Free State in order to fight the anti-treaty forces, and the civil war, was also something interesting. It was controversial and even people of that time like Joseph Duhig, who was supporter of the treaty, did not approve it. Still it was efficient enough to affect the war, and even to contribute towards its ending. It was an extreme, brutal decision, but it also probably saved the lives of thousands of soldiers, if the civil war was to continue. Another interesting aspect of the documentary The Madness From Within is its end. It informs us about the influence of the civil war on contemporary Ireland, specifically the two parties that were formed after the war, the proponents and the opponents of the treaty.

The movie left me with few questions. Why did the treaty opponents kill Michael Collins? What do you think would have happened if Michael Collins was not killed?