Wind that shakes the Barley

Noted, for future Netflix-ion, once the film gets an American distributor, that is. Allegedly trailers are linked to here, though I haven't made time to watch any of them.

The IFC Blog: All we are is barley in the wind
Romney, attempting to approach “The Wind That Shakes the Barley” purely from a cinematic perspective (and coming up with a strange and apologetic review), finally concludes that “This is Loach's most provocative film in ages, and it's also among his most dramatically compelling. And it is so for reasons that transcend the strict limits of its argument: Loach might question the terms of this analysis, but if 'The Wind That Shakes the Barley' demands to be seen, it's as much for its poetics as for its politics.”

(Independent) While few of Loach's regular viewers would have problems accepting his views on the Spanish Civil War or Nicaragua, it's harder for the average liberal broadsheet reader to accept unquestioningly this film's presentation of the heroism of the early IRA and the brutality of British forces in Ireland in 1920. And whether or not the portrayal of British violence is accurate, the question that a critic must ask - at the risk of seeming a bourgeois aesthete - is whether this portrayal is dramatically effective.

London Times:

This is Loach at his creative and inflammatory best. The scale of his historical thriller about the armed struggle to get the British out of Ireland in the early decades of the 20th century dwarfs anything the veteran director has attempted before. The budget barely extends beyond brown tweeds and flat-caps, but the ambition is awesome. If anger fuels Loach’s best work, he exceeds himself here. His view of the colonial Brits as greedy, swaggering sadists is unhindered by a single complimentary frame. The controversy is as ripe as rotten stilton, and Loach’s critics are up in arms.

I don't know contemporary British society well enough to pass judgement, or even comment intelligently (but when has that ever stopped a blogger?), yet it seems as if quite a few of the critical reviews of this film, by English reviewers, are because the British motives and practices in 1920s Ireland are presented in less than flattering light. Nationalism still exists, and only a fool would ignore the pernicious effects of nationalistic pride on citizens, be they movie critics or not.

I know my interest has been piqued. Not only as a descendent of Irish folk, but also as an amateur historian, and film school drop-out.

Tags: Film, /Ireland