The Wind That Shakes the Barley

Buy This Item The Wind That Shakes the Barley by Ifc  Available from Amazon  $13.99  on 8-27-2008     Driven by a deep sense of duty and a love for his country, Damien (Cillian Murphy) abandons his burgeoning career as a doctor and joins his brother, Teddy in a dangerous and violent fight for freedom. As the Irish freedom fighters bold tactics bring the British to a breaking point, both sides finally agree to a treaty to end the bloodshed. But, despite the apparent victory, civil war erupts and families who fought side by side, find themselves pitted against one another, putting their loyalties to the ultimate test. Reader Reviews A very well made and unsentimental look at the post-WWI Irish revolt against British rule and the civil war that followed the formation of the Irish Free State. The film does a particularly good job of depicting the rural Ireland of the 1920s' poor, isolated, in some respects almost preindustrial, and deeply Catholic. Against this background, The Wind... is the story of 2 brothers who join the IRA after witnessing the brutal behavior of the Black and Tans, paramilitaries used by the British government to suppress the rebellion. Loach shows the vicious nature of guerilla war and attempted suppression unsparingly, with stark scenes of torture, ambush, and execution. The film reaches a tragic climax in the civil war that followed the treaty with Britain. The two brothers line up on opposite sides of the pro- and anti-treaty divide with fatal consequences. Very well filmed, extremely well acted, and written well, this is a serious and successful attempt to understand and describe an important historical event. That said, this film has a couple of probably unavoidable drawbacks. The viewers who will get the most out of this film will be those with some knowledge of the period. Loach's close focus on the experiences of a small group of men and women gives this film powerful intensity but it sacrifices some important context. For example, the film does a very good job of showing how the brutal behavior of British paramilitaries radicalized many Irish but it does not show the fact that IRA radicals initiated violent activities with the intention of provoking British suppression in the successful hope of producing a radicalizing conflict.

The Wind That Shakes the Barley Available from Amazon Price: $13.99 Updated on 8-27-2008.

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