Scan and Pan
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
The Wind That Shakes the Barley
Damien (Cillian Murphy) and Teddy (Padraic Delaney) O'Donovan are brothers from County Cork on two different paths as the story begins in 1920. Damien is on his way to London to attend medical school, while Teddy is the leader of the local Irish Republican Army unit. After Damien witnesses an act of resistance to the routine violence of British soldiers, he puts aside his studies to join his brother in the IRA, fighting in the Irish War of Independence against British colonialism and the Black and Tans, a paramilitary police force. After a treaty is signed which partitions the country and stops far short of economic and political liberation, Damien and other anti-treaty IRA volunteers continue their fight, while Teddy supports the treaty and joins the new Irish Free State military. The Irish Civil War becomes a familial civil war, as the two brothers come into opposition with tragic results.
The Wind That Shakes the Barley represents British director Ken Loach (Hidden Agenda, Riff-Raff, Land and Freedom, Bread and Roses) at his absolute best: a bold storyteller who paints finely detailed, humanistic stories with an unabashedly leftwing perspective on culture and politics. The original screenplay by Paul Laverty (Bread and Roses) is both epic and intimate, with political and class struggle on a wide level represented by a small number of characters, which gives the film great emotional impact. Although it's a fictional story, the events are historically accurate, and it's portrayed with such realism that it feels like a documentary. It's not a dusty history lesson, it's as alive as a modern news report from a war torn country.
Loach doesn't take a single wrong step as he transforms the screenplay into a complex, emotionally draining film that has more edge of your seat tension in scenes of people debating politics than other films have in their action scenes, but it has conventional action scenes, too. It wears its politics on its sleeve, quoting the Irish socialist James Connolly and portraying Damien as a committed republican socialist who understands that the treaty will do nothing to change the distribution of power in his country, but it never idealizes any of the characters. In fact, its refusal to do so is one of its strengths.
The film also unflinchingly portrays how struggles for freedom are derailed so that only the color of a flag changes but those with economic power remain in control. This provides a certain universality to the film's themes, reflecting not only the present day Good Friday Agreement in Ireland, but also any struggle pitting the powerless against the powerful.
The naturalistic cinematography of Barry Ackroyd (United 93) is both bleak and beautiful, capturing the lush greenness of the County Cork filming locations while investing them with a heavy sense of tragedy. Production designer Fergus Clegg and costume designer Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh (Omagh, Breakfast on Pluto) bring the past back to vivid life. George Fenton (Cry Freedom, The Fisher King) provides a sweeping score that appropriately accents the story's themes.
Murphy's performance as Damien is a finely polished gem, as he grows from a quiet bystander to a committed revolutionary willing to give his life for his principles despite being stripped of his innocence by war. Delaney's Teddy is a born fighter whose war weariness leads him to the most emotionally wrenching act a man could take against his brother, and his chemistry with Murphy is such that one can easily imagine that they really are brothers. He has a scene toward the end that is simply heartbreaking and he plays it perfectly.
Strong performances also come from Liam Cunningham as Dan, a trade unionist and republican veteran who fought alongside Connolly in the Irish Citizen Army during the Easter Rising; Orla Fitzgerald as Sinead, the love of Damien's life and also a committed republican activist; Roger Allam as a British landowner; Laurence Barry as a young man who defiantly refuses to give his name in English when it's demanded of him even though he knows it may get him killed; and John Crean as an IRA volunteer who informs on his comrades and suffers the usual fate of informers in a riveting scene.
The Wind That Shakes the Barley is a work of art that does what art should do, examines real life and shines a powerful light on the human struggle for freedom. There have been many films that have told stories about this period of Irish history, but this one can truly be called great. Highly, highly recommended.
[5 out of 5 stars]
This brilliant and electrifying historical drama, which won the Palme d'Or for Best Film at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, is a masterpiece of political filmmaking that uses a particular historical struggle to draw broader lessons from.
Damien (Cillian Murphy) and Teddy (Padraic Delaney) O'Donovan are brothers from County Cork on two different paths as the story begins in 1920. Damien is on his way to London to attend medical school, while Teddy is the leader of the local Irish Republican Army unit. After Damien witnesses an act of resistance to the routine violence of British soldiers, he puts aside his studies to join his brother in the IRA, fighting in the Irish War of Independence against British colonialism and the Black and Tans, a paramilitary police force. After a treaty is signed which partitions the country and stops far short of economic and political liberation, Damien and other anti-treaty IRA volunteers continue their fight, while Teddy supports the treaty and joins the new Irish Free State military. The Irish Civil War becomes a familial civil war, as the two brothers come into opposition with tragic results.
The Wind That Shakes the Barley represents British director Ken Loach (Hidden Agenda, Riff-Raff, Land and Freedom, Bread and Roses) at his absolute best: a bold storyteller who paints finely detailed, humanistic stories with an unabashedly leftwing perspective on culture and politics. The original screenplay by Paul Laverty (Bread and Roses) is both epic and intimate, with political and class struggle on a wide level represented by a small number of characters, which gives the film great emotional impact. Although it's a fictional story, the events are historically accurate, and it's portrayed with such realism that it feels like a documentary. It's not a dusty history lesson, it's as alive as a modern news report from a war torn country.
Loach doesn't take a single wrong step as he transforms the screenplay into a complex, emotionally draining film that has more edge of your seat tension in scenes of people debating politics than other films have in their action scenes, but it has conventional action scenes, too. It wears its politics on its sleeve, quoting the Irish socialist James Connolly and portraying Damien as a committed republican socialist who understands that the treaty will do nothing to change the distribution of power in his country, but it never idealizes any of the characters. In fact, its refusal to do so is one of its strengths.
The film also unflinchingly portrays how struggles for freedom are derailed so that only the color of a flag changes but those with economic power remain in control. This provides a certain universality to the film's themes, reflecting not only the present day Good Friday Agreement in Ireland, but also any struggle pitting the powerless against the powerful.
The naturalistic cinematography of Barry Ackroyd (United 93) is both bleak and beautiful, capturing the lush greenness of the County Cork filming locations while investing them with a heavy sense of tragedy. Production designer Fergus Clegg and costume designer Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh (Omagh, Breakfast on Pluto) bring the past back to vivid life. George Fenton (Cry Freedom, The Fisher King) provides a sweeping score that appropriately accents the story's themes.
Murphy's performance as Damien is a finely polished gem, as he grows from a quiet bystander to a committed revolutionary willing to give his life for his principles despite being stripped of his innocence by war. Delaney's Teddy is a born fighter whose war weariness leads him to the most emotionally wrenching act a man could take against his brother, and his chemistry with Murphy is such that one can easily imagine that they really are brothers. He has a scene toward the end that is simply heartbreaking and he plays it perfectly.
Strong performances also come from Liam Cunningham as Dan, a trade unionist and republican veteran who fought alongside Connolly in the Irish Citizen Army during the Easter Rising; Orla Fitzgerald as Sinead, the love of Damien's life and also a committed republican activist; Roger Allam as a British landowner; Laurence Barry as a young man who defiantly refuses to give his name in English when it's demanded of him even though he knows it may get him killed; and John Crean as an IRA volunteer who informs on his comrades and suffers the usual fate of informers in a riveting scene.
The Wind That Shakes the Barley is a work of art that does what art should do, examines real life and shines a powerful light on the human struggle for freedom. There have been many films that have told stories about this period of Irish history, but this one can truly be called great. Highly, highly recommended.
[5 out of 5 stars]
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