Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The Wind That Shakes the Barley



B+

Directed by Ken Loach

Winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2006, Ken Loach's "The Wind that Shakes the Barley" is a riveting, suspenseful picture of Ireland's bid for independence from English rule as well as the roots of its subsequent civil conflict. Loach's film is gripping, beautiful to look at and faultlessly authentic, making it a superior entry into the "historical drama" genre.

The multi-talented Cilian Murphy plays Damien, an Irish lad headed to medical school in London despite the looming threat of armed warfare between the Irish and English forces. Damien, feeling a sense of guilt at abandoning his countrymen in their time of need, returns to Ireland to help his brother Teddy wage guerrilla warfare against the dreaded "Black and Tan" forces sent to Ireland by the English to stamp out the rebellion. Following a number of rebel successes, and subsequent retributive actions by the Black and Tan, the English government feels compelled to sign a truce with the Irish. Despite this resounding victory, Damien and Teddy disagree over the correct path to take to insure Ireland's unconditional freedom and their differences lead to an irrevocable split between the two siblings.

"The Wind That Shakes the Barley" is historical drama as it should be--thoroughly riveting yet faultlessly authentic. Loach's talent as a director is undeniable yet his assured and confident handling of the historical material in "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" is still pleasantly surprising. Loach's film is helped immeasurably by superb acting from Cillian Murphy, Paraig Delaney, and Liam Cunningham, all of whom give nuanced yet passionate performances. Loach's decision to make the diaologue between his characters as authentic as possible also strengthens the film and gives it a veracity that is all too often lacking from such pictures. The bombastic, rehearsed speeches about pride and country that are often featured in these types of films are replaced here with honest, passionate, and often angry arguments between Loach's characters about the nature of freedom and at what cost Ireland's sovereignty should cost. In one particularly riveting scene, Damien and other hardliners debate the conditions of the peace agreement with Teddy and other free- staters in Dublin in a manner so raw and believable that you almost need to remind yourself that this isn't very well preserved documentary footage of the incident actually occuring way back in 1920.
Despite the obvious strengths of Loach's film, "Teh Wind That Shakes the Barley" comes apart to some extent towards its end. As the Free Staters and the more radical Irish separatists split and begin to wage open civil war, Loach's film unfortunately turns maudlin and predictable, culminating in a rather unbelievable "brother vs. brother" face-off that is disappointing considering Loach's amazing restraint up to that point. The manner in which the question facing both Damien and Teddy--how best to insure Ireland's true and enduring freedom--is framed in a way that simplifies the debate far too much. Teddy is shown as the statesman who wants to free Ireland by working through official chanels while Damien is portrayed as the radical, unwilling to allow even a blade of Irish grass to be ruled by the English. Neither brother appears to be open to compromise or even wants to listen to the other and they are simply content to engage in open conflict, convinced of their respective beliefs. Consequently, the end result feels a bit formulaic and contrived, the once united brothers having been ripped apart by civil strife, as if the director is trying to remind us that Ireland won its freedom at a cost, a fact readily obvious to anyone who knows the first thing about Ireland's fight for independence.

4 comments:

Murf said...

Cool. I can stream this one on Netflix. I'm going to check it out.

JDM said...

I can say with almost 100% certainty that you'll love this movie. It seems to be right down your alley.

Murf said...

Wow! Powerful, haunting, sad, what else can I say? The scene where Damien executes Chris Reilly is brilliantly done, shocking and authentic in a terrible way. I agree with your comments about the ending, although from a moral standpoint, I thought it was interesting how Damien ended up "dying by the sword."

Also liked the line where he was writing to Sinead and says, "I didn't want to get into this war, and now I can't find a way out," as if he gets swept up in the currents of history, almost without choice.

Great movie!

JDM said...

I think the ending was powerful, in a way, but I felt that Loach romanticized the ending too much after spending a good part of the film pointing out how horrible armed conflict can be and how it can fundamentally change men.
I still think it's a great movie. The scene where Damien and the other fighters take Sir John and the kid who ratted on them out to the mountains to be executed is amazing. The part where Damien tells Sinead about taking the boy's mother out to her son's grave is also great.