The Wind that Shakes the Barley More about this screening | Reviews of this screening | Previous screening | Screenings '92 to present | Home page |
Damien (Cillian Murphy) is about to leave Ireland for his medical studies in London, while his brother (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, Damien decides to stay and fight back against the British occupation, and joins the IRA in a guerilla war against the 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 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 guerillas, with the violence now directed towards former comrades. Screenwriter Paul Laverty has stated that many of the incidents in the film are based on true events. Although the film was heavily criticised by some British newspapers, the reaction from most film critics has been positive with it being described 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”. |
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Directed by Ken Loach (Ae Fond Kiss and Bread and Roses), this film won the prestigious Palm dÓr award last year. Set during the Irish War of Independence (1919-21) and the subsequent Irish Civil War (1922-23), it tells the story of two brothers who become a part of a small group of Irish Republican Army activists.