An Everlasting Piece (2000) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Colm ends up in the psychiatric hospital in Belfast where he works as a barber. While there, he meets George, another patient who shares his love for poetry. The film doesn't specify the exact reason for Colm's institutionalization, focusing instead on the unexpected friendship that develops between the two barbers despite their different religious backgrounds.

• Colm
• psychiatric hospital
• Belfast
• barber

The Scalper was once a powerful figure in the Northern Ireland hairpiece market who suffered a dramatic downfall. After experiencing a mental breakdown, he committed the shocking act of scalping some of his own clients, which led to his institutionalization in the psychiatric hospital where Colm and George encounter him.

• Scalper
• hairpiece
• mental breakdown
• client list

Colm and George form their partnership while both being patients in the psychiatric hospital. Despite their different religious backgrounds, a source of deep division in Northern Ireland, they bond over their shared profession as barbers and their mutual love of poetry. This unlikely alliance becomes central to the film's theme of transcending sectarian divides through business partnership.

• Colm
• George
• Catholic
• Protestant
• partnership
• The Piece People

Toupée or not Toupée is a rival hairpiece company that poses serious competition to Colm and George's business. They also possess the Scalper's valuable list of loyal customers, putting The Piece People at a significant disadvantage. This rivalry drives much of the film's tension as both companies compete for market dominance in Northern Ireland.

• Toupée or not Toupée
• competition
• client list
• rivalry

Mr. Black is a potential customer whom Colm and George hope to secure as a client. Initially, he denies any past association with the Scalper. However, Bronagh realizes she had seen him in the news after he shot a Catholic, and later recognized him as a bald man, implying he had been one of the Scalper's clients before the man's breakdown.

• Mr. Black
• Bronagh
• Scalper
• customer

While driving down an isolated road, Colm and George are stopped by members of the Irish Republican Army who demand to know their business. In a bizarre twist, they manage to sell a wig to the leading IRA member without realizing it had been previously chewed by dogs, a detail the buyer doesn't notice.

• IRA
• dog-chewed wig
• isolated road
• sale

The RUC traces a distinctive wig left at a bombing scene back to The Piece People. An IRA operative had accidentally left behind the unique hairstyle that Colm and George had sold them. This evidence links George and Colm to the crime, resulting in a daunting interrogation by the Royal Ulster Constabulary that strains their partnership.

• RUC
• interrogation
• bombing scene
• wig
• evidence

An IRA operative who misplaced the wig at the bombing scene pursues Colm, demanding he surrender his entire inventory to help cover the group's mishaps. Colm refuses, emphasizing his business partnership with George, a Protestant, a decision he feels would compromise his principles and jeopardize their chances of securing an exclusive deal with Wigs Of Wimbledon.

• IRA operative
• threats
• wig stock
• partnership
• Protestant

Colm attends a poetry reading organized by George, seeking refuge from the pressures of their business troubles and the IRA threats. The atmosphere of the poetry reading helps them reconcile their differences and refocus on their partnership, strengthening their resolve to continue their entrepreneurial journey together.

• poetry reading
• reconciliation
• partnership
• George

With Bronagh's support, Colm and George uncover a surprising trend, many British Army soldiers stationed in Northern Ireland are suffering from alopecia due to the surrounding tension and stress. This insight leads them to pursue a government contract to supply wigs to these affected soldiers.

• British Army
• alopecia
• government contract
• soldiers
• stress

By securing the government contract to supply wigs to British Army soldiers suffering from alopecia, The Piece People gain a significant advantage over their rivals. This business victory, combined with their resilience through various challenges, allows them to triumph over Toupée or not Toupée and claim exclusive rights to operate throughout Northern Ireland.

• exclusive rights
• Northern Ireland
• government contract
• victory
• competition