Ken Loach's brave and compelling telling of the personal and political struggle for Ireland at the start of the 1900's.

---

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17841 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-11-06
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Box set, PAL, Special Edition, Widescreen, Dolby
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 121 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, this gripping drama by Ken Loach (Raining Stones) is set during the early days of the Irish Republican Army, when British occupation of the Irish radicalised many a citizen and caused some to take up arms. Cillian Murphy plays Damien, a medical student on his way to London when he witnesses a couple of atrocities committed by British troops. Instead of becoming a doctor, he turns into a leading and respected figure in an IRA division led by his brother, Teddy (Padraic Delaney).

The film provides some fascinating historical insight into the nascent resistance movement as it was in 1920, and Loach brilliantly conveys the profound emotional transition young men had to make to become saboteurs and killers. Loach's realistic style is absolutely mesmerizing, with many scenes built around the dynamics of large groups: contentious meetings, torture sessions, battles, celebrations, and the like. One has the sense of history as a pool of energy, and one also develops a kind of Renoir-esque appreciation for the fact that different people on opposing sides of a life-or-death issue have their reasons for believing what they believe. As the story moves along, subtle shifts in the perspectives of men and women who had once agreed to be absolute in their fight for freedom results in a tragic yet understandable schism among Irish patriots. The final half-hour of The Wind That Shakes the Barley says a lot about how the Irish, including people who had known one another all their lives, turned their wrath on one another for so many decades. This is an outstanding film, featuring the best performance yet by Murphy (Red Eye). --Tom Keogh

Synopsis
Set in Cork, Ireland in 1920, Damien abandons a career as a doctor after seeing a friend of his murdered by a British soldier and joins his brother Teddy in an Irish Republican Army unit in order to defeat the occupying British force. After a violent struggle, the two sides agree a treaty to end the conflict. However, civil war erupts and families and friendships are stretched to the limit and Damien and Teddy find themselves on opposing sides as Damien views the treaty as a sell-out that fails to bring all of Ireland under Irish control. British director Ken Loach (KES, LAND AND FREEDOM) became the 59th winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes with this emotional drama about the Irish Civil War of the 1920s and the film features superb performances from a young Irish cast.

---

Customer Reviews

a unique look at Irish War of Independence
Winner of the Palme D'or in 2006 at Cannes, "Barley" is Ken Loach's biggest box office success so far. As far as I know, this is the first Irish film winning the award. When it comes to filmmaking, Loach has a keen sense of realism, naturalism and social awareness. All these elements mix with his strong instinct for time and place, and the result: subtle and intense pictures letting the volatility, misery and pain arise naturally from the harrowing and overwhelming situations.

"Barley" is a beautiful film, an epitome of sharp & powerful docu-drama providing valuable background information especially for those who do not any snippet of idea about the happenings in early 1920s Ireland - Irish people's struggle for independence and origins of the IRA.

Some viewers claim that Loach, due to his radical political stance, distorts historical facts and shows British "Black and Tans" as a stereotypical, bloodthirsty thugs. I don't want to participate in the polemics of whether the film portrays the incidents truly or not - atrocities committed by British forces against civilians, fellow revolutionary's division into factions before Anglo-Irish Treaty and their ideological disputes giving rise to bloody Irish Civil War. This is historian's job.

The truth is that Loach's melodramatic attempt of using two Irish brothers who are at odds with one another to stir up drama proves to be a good formula here. This greatly adds to the watchability of movie. It shows the dark side of war, people's ordeal and how clash of political principles as well as rupture of human values and bonds pit brother against brother.

Lastly, visually the movie is a feast to eyes - from idyllic backdrops of Irish countryside to gloomy dankness of a prison cell, every scene is shot beautifully. For those who like docu-dramas and Ken Loach type of social realism, "Barley" is a must-see.

This isn't an Oirish "Braveheart"
Some reviewers seem to have missed the point. Ken Loach doesn't make Hollywood-style "history for popcorn-munchers" entertainment. He assumes a basic knowledge of the period in question, and then explores specific political questions. If anyone saw "Land and Freedom" before "Barley", they would not be at all suprised that Loach chose to focus on the tensions/contradictions between the fight for self-determination on the one hand, and the kind of state those fighters were aiming for. This scenario is expressed by the relationship between Damian (an advocate of Joseph Connolly's Marxist vision of a workers' republic) and his brother, who (for lack of a broader political vision) sees himself as more of a realist, dealing with the "here and now". It is no accident that the relationships between Damian/Roy and Damian/Sinead are given such prominence. Some reviewers have criticised the acting: Loach famously encourages improvisation, and often uses "imperfect" takes in his final cut, precisely in order to convey the message that history is not all heroic poses and sweeping soundtracks. The same goes for the action scenes: anyone with experience of armed conflict knows that military engagements can very often be confused, random and inconsequential (i.e. not always like Peter O'Toole charging forward on his camel). All in all, I found the film to be intelligent, insightful, very moving, and therefore an excellent piece of cinema.

Tremendous
The Wind That Shakes The Barley is an interesting look at the early days of the IRA. Ken Loach's realistic style is perfect for an examination of this brutal conflict and the violence always seems terrifyingly real. The story of Damien and his family almost seems incidental at times but is ultimately very moving.
It is a true shame that movies like this have to be made out with the mainstream as they so often are so much more dramatic than the average Hollywood blockbuster.