The Bottom Line
Pros
- Powerful drama about two brothers caught up in Ireland's struggle for independence
- Illuminating look at historically important events
- Naturalistic acting and realistic visual style
Cons
- There's expository dialogue that is noticeably didactic
- The film's peculiar narrative structure and downbeat ending are unsatisfying to some viewers
- There have been complaints that movie portrays the British as being sadistic
Description
- DVD containing drama The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006), winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes
- Movie directed by Ken Loach and stars Cillian Murphy
- DVD provides audio commentary by director and Irish history expert
- DVD contains 49-minute documentary on Ken Loach's work
- Feature film run time: 2 hours 7 minutes
- MPAA rating: Not rated
- DVD release date: September 4, 2007
Guide Review - The Wind That Shakes the Barley DVD Review
Winner of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, The Wind That Shakes the Barley is a powerful drama set during the Irish War of Independence and the almost-immediately-following Irish Civil War. The film was shot in the scenic countryside and picturesque small towns of County Cork. The story focuses on the O'Donovan brothers, Damien (Cillian Murphy) and Teddy (Padraic Delaney), who are caught up in the tumultuous events of 1920-1922. The movie was directed by Ken Loach, who uses a realistic visual style and gets naturalistic performances from his actors.
The first two-thirds of the film follows the O'Donovan brothers as they take part in a guerilla war to gain Ireland's freedom from Britain, and Loach shows brutality on both sides. That phase of the struggle ends in the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which gives the southern part of the Emerald Isle only partial independence and leaves the northern part under complete British control. But soon the Irish Civil War breaks out with an anti-Treaty faction fighting those who are pro-Treaty. The O'Donovan brothers come down on opposite sides of this issue, leading to a tragic ending. The movie isn't so much about how the British treated the Irish as it is about the prices paid by the Irish in battling for independence.
The DVD provides an excellent audio commentary by Loach, who is British, and University College Cork history professor Donal O'Driscoll. Another good DVD extra is the informative 49-minute "Carry On Ken: A Look at the Work of Director Ken Loach."
