Susan Granger’s review of “The Wind That Shakes the Barley” (IFC First Take)
In this historical drama, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes last year, Ken Loach explores the enmity between the Irish and the British – and its aftermath.
Set in 1920s in the Irish countryside, the occupying troops, known as the Black and Tans, often resort to savage measures to quash local efforts to form an independent republic.
As Teddy (Padraic Delaney) leads a group of IRA insurgents, his brother Damien (Cillian Murphy) abandons plans to practice medicine in London to fight beside him. Together, they survive torture, imprisonment and the threat of a firing squad.
But when Irish politician Michael Collins forges a treaty with the United Kingdom (cleverly depicted via a newsreel at the local movie theater) granting Ireland only partial economic independence, a wedge is driven between the siblings. Teddy thinks the agreement, ratified by the Irish Parliament, is a reasonable starting point and joins the Irish Free State’s army, while Damien denounces him as a collaborator, demanding complete separation.
As another rebel puts it, “All we’re changing if we ratify this treaty are the accents of the powerful and the color of the flag.” And therein lies the human tragedy.
Ken Loach utilizes the emotionally wrought, doomed relationship between Teddy and Damien for dramatic structure while attempting to inject some fairness into the fight. It’s a markedly different approach than the ideological social outrage that he and writer Paul Laverty evidenced in “Riff-Raff,” “Land and Freedom” and “Carla’s Story.” Credit goes to Padraic Delaney and versatile Cillian Murphy (“Breakfast on Pluto,” “Red Eye”). On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Wind That Shakes the Barley” is a bloody, brutal 8, evoking obvious, relevant comparisons with the ongoing civil war in Iraq.
