The Wind That Shakes the Barley (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Wind That Shakes The Barley | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Ken Loach |
| Produced by | Rebecca O'Brien |
| Written by | Paul Laverty |
| Starring | Cillian Murphy Orla Fitzgerald Padraic Delaney Liam Cunningham |
| Music by | George Fenton |
| Release date(s) |  18 May 2006 (premiere at Cannes)  23 June 2006 21 September 2006 14 March 2007 (limited) |
| Running time | 127 min |
| Language | English, Irish |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Wind That Shakes The Barley is a Palme d'Or-winning 2006 film set during the Irish War of Independence (1919–21) and the subsequent Irish Civil War (1922–3). The film tells the story of two brothers who become part of a small group of Irish Republican Army activists. Although it is focused on Irish history and identity and stars mostly Irish actors, the film was made by British director Ken Loach and is an international co-production between companies in Ireland, the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and France.
Contents |
[edit] Title
The title derives from a line from the song of the same name by 19th century author Robert Dwyer Joyce. The song made 'the wind that shakes the barley' a motif in Irish Republican song and poetry, featuring prominently in the song "The Island" by Ewan MacColl, recorded by Christy Moore as "Green Island". [1]
[edit] Synopsis
Damien (Cillian Murphy) is about to leave Ireland for his medical studies in London, while his brother Teddy (Padraic Delaney) is an active member of the Irish Republican Army. After witnessing an act of resistance to the daily violence of the Black and Tans, he decides to stay and fight back against the British occupation, and joins the IRA in a guerrilla war against British paramilitary forces. When the peace treaty is agreed, the two brothers find themselves pitted against one another: Teddy, who is involved in the organisation of the new Irish Free State, wishes everyone to support peace; Damien, however, deems that this peace treaty is not what he has fought for, and that it will 'only change the colour of the flag', the oppressed remaining so while the elite is replaced. This is the outbreak of the Irish Civil War, when the men in a uniform are now Irish.
In a bid to impose their view on the treaty, both the Irish Free State army and the anti-treaty IRA resort to the same violent means that were used previously by the occupation army and the guerrilla, with the violence now directed towards former comrades, and atrocities are committed on both sides. At the end of the film, Damien is about to be executed by the Irish Free State army. Teddy offers to release him if he reveals where the IRA stores their weapons; Damien refuses, and is executed by a firing squad commanded by Teddy.
Laverty has explained that many of the incidents in the film are based on true incidents. Presumably some of the characters are composites; Teddy has similarities with Tom Barry (although he fought on the anti-Treaty side in the Civil War), as the ambush in the film is clearly based on the legendary Kilmichael Ambush. Damien has similarities with two people who gave up their medical studies to join the IRA: Ernie O'Malley, who wrote one of the best known personal histories of the conflict, On Another Man's Wound, and Paddy O'Sullivan, whose brother Micheál wrote a book about the war, Where Mountainy Men Have Sown. Allusion is also made to the atrocities of the civil war era. see Executions during the Irish Civil War
[edit] Production
Cork University (UCC) historian Donal O Drisceoil was Loach's historical adviser on the film.
The film was shot in various towns within County Cork during 2005. Some filming took place in Bandon, County Cork: a scene was shot along North Main Street and outside a building next to the Court House (it was from Lee’s Hotel in Bandon (now the Munster Arms) on August 22, 1922. This choice of location may be significant,[citation needed] as Michael Collins set off on the fateful journey that ended in his death at the hands of Anti-Treaty IRA (Irregulars) at Béal na mBláth ('The Pass of the Flowers'), about 8 miles away.
Many of the extras in the film were drawn from local Scout groups [2], including Bandon, Togher and Macroom with veteran Scouter Martin Thompson in an important role.
Amongst the songs on the film's soundtrack is "Oró Sé do Bheatha 'Bhaile", written by Padraig Pearse.
[edit] Distribution
The commercial interest expressed in Britain was initially much lower than in other European countries and only 30 prints of the film were planned for distribution in Britain, compared with 300 in France. However, after the Palme d'Or award the film appeared on 105 screens in Britain.
The RESPECT political party, of which Ken Loach is on the national council, called for people to watch the film on its first weekend in order to persuade the film industry to show the film in more cinemas. [3]
[edit] Responses
The film was heavily criticised by some commentators in British newspapers (including Simon Heffer [4] and Ruth Dudley Edwards,[5]. Tim Luckhurst of The Times,a former editor of the Scotsman, called it a "poisonously anti-British corruption of the history of the war of Irish independence" [6]. In her pre-view Ruth Dudley Edwards of the Daily Mail criticised the "portrayal of the British as sadists and the Irish as romantic, idealistic resistance fighters who take to violence only because there is no other self-respecting course".
One strain of commentary in Ireland examined the Irish War of Independence as a socialist or class based conflict, as well as a nationalist uprising.[7]
The reaction from film critics has generally been positive. The conservative Daily Telegraph's film critic described it as a "brave, gripping drama" and said that director Loach was "part of a noble and very English tradition of dissent" [8]. Another Times film critic said that the film showed Loach "at his creative and inflammatory best" [9], and rated it as 4 out of 5. The Daily Record of Scotland gave it a positive review (4 out of 5), describing it as "a dramatic, thought-provoking, gripping tale that, at the very least, encourages audiences to question what has been passed down in dusty history books." [10]
The film has also re-generated debate on rival versions of Irish history.
[edit] External links
- The Wind That Shakes the Barley at the Internet Movie Database
- Interview with Ken Loach about the film from Socialist Worker, 10th June 2006
- Introduction to The Wind That Shakes the Barley script by Luke Gibbons, see also Gibbons reply to Kevin Myers
- The Wind That Shakes the Barley at Rotten Tomatoes
| Ken Loach | |
|---|---|
| 1960s | Poor Cow | Kes |
| 1970s | The Save the Children Fund Film | Family Life | Black Jack |
| 1980s | The Gamekeeper | Looks and Smiles | Which Side Are You On? |
| 1990s | Fatherland | Hidden Agenda | Riff-Raff | Raining Stones | Ladybird Ladybird | Land and Freedom | A Contemporary Case for Common Ownership | Carla's Song | The Flickening Flame | My Name Is Joe |
| 2000s | Bread and Roses | The Navigators | Sweet Sixteen | Ae Fond Kiss... | Tickets | The Wind That Shakes the Barley |
| Preceded by L'Enfant |
Palme d'Or 2006 |
Succeeded by n/a |
