Synopsis

Ireland 1920: workers from field and country unite to form volunteer guerrilla armies to face the ruthless "Black and Tan" squads that are being shipped from Britain to block Ireland's bid for independence. Damien is about to leave for London but the brutal murder of Micheail and the bashing of a train crew by British soldiers stirs hiss deep sense of duty and a love for his homeland. He abandons his burgeoning career as a doctor and joins his brother, Teddy and other locals as a republican in a dangerous and violent fight for freedom. As the freedom fighters' bold tactics bring the British to breaking point, both sides finally agree to sign a treaty which the hope will end the bloodshed. But, despite the apparent victory, civil war erupts. Witht peace shattered, families who fought side by side, find themselves pitted against one another as sworn enemies, putting their loyalties to the ultimate test.

What The Critics Say

"The film increasingly short-changes the personal for the sake of the political, despite powerful scenes and another impressive performance from Cillian Murphy." Matthew Leyland BBC "The Wind suffers from at least two problems. While paying tribute to the diversity of political discourse, not only between the British and the Irish, but also within the Irish themselves, the film ultimately reduces its complex debates to an interpersonal melodrama, in which two brothers are pitted against each other, a conventional format that trivializes the particular conflict." Emanuel Levy EMANUELLEVY.COM "Murphy is terrific in the central role and his softly spoken, essentially passive demeanour is used to powerful effect." Matthew Turner VIEWLONDON "If your sympathies are not with the Irish republicans, this film will irritate you, but so it should. If you are neutral on the subject, you'll get a buzz out of the sensitive filmmaking, superb, naturalistic performances with touches of improv, and a sense of outrage that informs the film's mood. It's good to get outraged about things, especially if you use that energy to make a film, instead of a bomb." Andrew L Urban URBAN CINEFILE "This is rough, edgy, honest filmmaking that doesn't shy away from the violent realities or the philosophical discussions. We feel the anguish and regret, the impossible decisions, desperate hope "that this is worth it". Although the Brits are basically just evil thugs, the Irish characters grapple with social justice in powerfully personal and complex ways. And Loach films it with a raw attention to detail that allows us to focus on the characters and the issues they're grappling with." Rich Cline SHADOW ON THE WALL

"The Wind that Shakes the Barley is set in Ireland in 1920, during the war for independence, also known as the war against the "Black and Tans", and it's typical Loach, if not really vintage Loach. He has made better films, such as Riff-Raff, Raining Stones, My Name is Joe, Kes and Ladybird, Ladybird, but this one has a powerful, emotional story to tell, with strong overtones in current events. That is probably why he and the writer, Paul Laverty, chose to make it now." Paul Byrnes THE SYDNEY MORNING HERLAD "History is desperately important if we are to learn from our mistakes, and films that dredge that harbour are always useful, even if they take sides. Ken Loach takes the side of the Irish republicans who wouldn't settle for anything less than total independence from the Brits in 1920. A treaty - forged after bloody battles and skirmishes in a vicious guerrilla war - under which they had to still swear allegiance to the Crown seemed no victory at all." Andrew L Urban URBAN CINEFILE "Here, sadly, the focus on big issues hasn't left enough room for the smaller, spontaneous details that make Loach's finest films so intensely engaging." Matthew Leyland BBC "Though tastily lensed by ace d.p. Barry Ackroyd and with a convincing cast led by Cillian Murphy, essentially small-scale pic lacks the involving sweep of Loach's earlier historical-political yarn, "Land and Freedom," and looks likely to reap only modest returns in general arenas." Derek Elley VARIETY CANNES 2006 "Loach provides plenty of time for arguments on all sides of the political issue, and while that is important, those scenes slow down the film badly. He stages the many action sequences with assurance, however, and draws persuasive performances from his cast. With his poet's cheekbones and blue eyes, Murphy makes a fine romantic hero, and Delaney is a match as his duty-bound brother. Liam Cunningham, too, stands out as a thoughtful train driver-turned-rebel." Ray Bennett THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

The Fight For Freedom The English ruling class first invaded Ireland in the twelfth century, when feudal barons staked out their territory. Over the centuries English landlords grew rich at the expense of the Irish people. A settler population to rule on behalf of the English was established and penal laws kept the Irish in subservience. As well as taxes and rents, Ireland supplied England with farm produce and cheap labour. Famine, evictions and poverty were the lot of Ireland's rural population. The United Irishmen fought for their country's independence in the wake of the French Revolution. In the nineteenth century the Fenian Brotherhood took up the struggle. Then in the early years of the twentieth century the movement would no longer be denied, though it was fought at every turn by the British establishment. The Irish Republican Army or Óglaigh na hÉireann, sometimes refered to as the Old IRA, was a military organisation descended from the Irish Volunteers which was recognised in 1919 by Dáil Éireann as the legitimate army of the unilaterally declared Irish Republic, the Irish state proclaimed in the Easter Rising in 1916 and reaffirmed by the Dáil in January 1919. In Irish, it was referred to as Óglaigh na hÉireann. Though a series of organisations later claimed to be a continuation of the IRA from the 1920s to today, most Irish people disagree with these claims. After the signature of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921, members of the IRA who supported the Treaty formed the nucleus of the National Army founded by IRA leader Michael Collins in 1922. While the anti-Treaty IRA continued to exist after its defeat in the Irish Civil War, by the late 1930s it had lost most of the legitimacy with which most supporters of the Republican side initially regarded it. The political violence that broke out in Ireland between 1916 and 1923 had its origins in Irish nationalist demands for independence from Britain and unionist resistance to these demands. By 1914, this issue was at an impasse, with the British government prepared to concede Home Rule or self government to Ireland. This led to the formation of unionist and nationalist armed militias, respectively, the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Irish Volunteers. The Government of Ireland Act 1914, more generally known as the Third Home Rule Act, was an Act of Parliament passed by the British Parliament in May 1914 which sought to give Ireland regional self-government within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Although it received the Royal Assent in September 1914, its implementation was postponed until after the First World War, amid fears that opposition to home rule by Irish Unionists and illegal gun-running by the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Irish Volunteers would lead to civil war. The standoff was temporarily averted by the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914. The Irish Volunteers split, the National Volunteers, with over 100,000 members led by Irish Parliamentary Party leader John Redmond were prepared to accept British promises to deliver Home Rule and about 20,000 of them served in the war in the British Army. However about twelve thousand Volunteers, led by Eoin MacNeill and dominated the secret Irish Republican Brotherhood refused to join the British war effort and kept the name Irish Volunteers. Whereas MacNeill intended to use force only to resist the imposition of conscription on Ireland, the IRB men intended to launch an armed to rebellion in pursuit of Irish independence. The IRA fought a guerrilla war against the Crown forces in Ireland from 1919 to July 1921. The most intense period of the war was from November 1920 to July 1921, when over three-quarters of the 1500 or so who died in the war were killed. The Inside Story The brutality of the 'Black and Tans' is now legendary, although the most excessive repression attributed to the Crown's forces was often that of the 'Auxiliary Division' of the Constabulary. One of the strongest critics of the 'Black and Tans' was King George V of the United Kingdom. Perhaps the worst (certainly the most high profile) atrocity of the war took place in Dublin in November 1920, and is still known as Bloody Sunday. In the early hours of the morning, Michael Collin's 'Squad' assassinated 14 British agents, some in front of their wives and families. In reprisal, that afternoon, British forces opened fire on a football crowd at Croke Park, killing 14 civilians. Towards the end of the day, two prominent republicans and their un-involved friend were arrested and killed by Crown Forces. The brutality of the 'Black and Tans', who by the way were veterans of WW1, is graphically portrayed in Ken Loach's latest film, "The Wind That Shakes The Barley". The joviality and comraderey of the the films opening minutes, which features local lads in a game of hurling, is shattered when the 'Black and Tans' visit Peggy's farmhouse and bash her grandson Micheail to death. Later we witness the brutallity of the 'Black and Tans' interrogation process. Using a pair of pliers the interrogator removes all the fingernails from Teddy O'Donovan hands. "I think what happened in Ireland in 1920-1922 is one of those stories that is of permanent interest," says Alexander Korda Award winning director Ken Loach. "Like the Spanish Civil War, it was a pivotal moment. It reveals how a long struggle for independence was thwarted at its moment of success by a colonial power who, in divesting itself of its empire, still managed to keep its strategic interests in tact." Like all people who were abused at the hands of foreigners intent on stealing their homeland, the Irish too have a long memory of the events as became evident to Loach when filming started in Cork. "I was surprised how familiar the arguments still are in and around Cork where we were filming. Obviously it's very current in the North of Ireland because they're still fighting some of the same battles. I thought in the South it would have faded, but we were always meeting people who had stories to tell. Most people knew the names of the characters involved, of the local Flying Column heroes, and had a knowledge of dates and incidents: 'a tan was chased across that field there, so and so was caught here'. So the memory lingers a lot longer than people think." When it comes to the films message, Loach says it's not anti-British. "I wouldn't call this an anti-British film," he said. "I'd encourage people to see their loyalties horizontally across national boundaries, so that this isn't a film about the Brits bashing the Irish. People have much more in common with people in the same social position in other countries than they do with, say, those at the top of their own society. You can argue that we have a responsibility to attack the mistakes and brutalities of our leaders, past and present. Far from being unpatriotic it is a duty we cannot ignore." So is this a romantic tale? "Because the War of Independence was a David and Goliath situation, it's easy to fall into a romantic view of the struggle," says screenwriter Paul Laverty, winner of the Best Screenplay Award at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. "In 1920, there'd be something like three thousand five hundred rifles in the whole country, and in Cork only two to three hundred men in the Flying Column, against a British force some ten thousand strong in the form of the 'Black & Tans', the Auxiliaries, the police and various British Army regiments. Having vivid memories of war close up in Central America, especially El Salvador and Guatemala in the eighties, I remember how terrifying it is when the security forces had licence to operate with absolute impunity. I met people who never slept twice in the same house, trade unionists and human rights activists who were on the run. I met people with children kidnapped, or who had relatives tortured and murdered. There's nothing romantic about that life, it was terrifying and devastating." The Verdict "While "The Wind That Shakes The Barley" has much going for it, including another stand-out performance by Cillian Murphy, this film is not Loach's best work. And, contrary to reports claiming such, it hasn't won the highest award in cinema by taking the Palm D'Or, winning the Academy Award for Best Film holds far more sway with cinemagoers. While the filmmakers claim the film presents both sides of a long standing arguement, most in the audience will see it as slanted towards the Irish. History reveals that's the correct stance to take. It's brutal only because they were brutal times. It's violent because as most sensible people realize, if you kick a dog often enough, sooner or later it will bite you. "The Wind That Shakes The Barley" could have been a truly great film if it had a better 'second half'. While fans of Ken Loach will feel a strong need to see his latest effort I suspect that like many films in this style, it won't make much of impression with anyone other than those of Irish descent and lovers of 'art house' cinema. Commendations to cinematographer Barry Ackroyd B.S.C. ("United 93") and composer George Fenton ("The Blue Planet", "Cry Freedom" and "Gandhi"). Worth recommending. 3 /1/2 STARS." Cast & Crew Bytes "THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY" stars .......
Cillian Murphy ["Intermission", "Batman Begins", "Red Eye" and "Breakfast On Pluto"]; Liam Cunningham ["Dog Soldiers", "The Abduction Club", "Screwback" and "The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse"]; Padraic Delaney ["An Cuainín"]; Gerard Kearney ["War of the Buttons"]; Roger Allam ["V for Vendetta" and "A Cock and Bull Story"] with Antony Byrne [TV'S "Heartbeat", "Prime Suspect 4: Scent of Darkness","Touching Evil" and "The Bill"] as The Interrogator and Orla Fitzgerald ["rossed Lines", and "Strangers in the Night"] as Sinead.
"THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY" was .......
directed by Venice Film Festivals Gold Medal of the Presidency of the Senate recipient Ken Loach ["Riff-Raff", "My Name Is Joe", "The Navigators" and "Ae Fond Kiss"]; screenplay by Paul Laverty ["Carla's Song", "My Name Is Joe", "Bread and Roses" and "Cargo"]; cinematography by Barry Ackroyd B.S.C. ["Very Annie Mary", "The Navigators", "Ae Fond Kiss" and "United 93"]; original music by Venice Film Festival Rota Soundtrack, BAFTA & EMMY Award winner George Fenton ["Sweet Home Alabama", "Ae Fond Kiss", "Stage Beauty" and "Mrs Henderson Presents"]; produced by Rebecca O'Brien ["Bean", "My Name Is Joe", "The Navigators", "Ae Fond Kiss" and "Tickets"] and costume design by Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh ["The Visitor", "In America", "Omagh" and "Breakfast on Pluto"]. Run Time 124 minutes Rated m [AUST] Copyright ©2006 - Pathe Films - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2006 - Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved