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Too much screaming, too little to care about
-
Sep 13, 2007
- by cyclone_march
- posted in Love of Foreign Films
Rating:
Pros: Decent acting
-5
Cons: Everything else
The Bottom Line: I will reiterate the last line in the review: Finally I just didn't care.
Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie''s plot.
The Wind that Shakes the Barley covers two parts of the struggle for the Northern Irish to gain their own state. So it is a political film.
The movie begins in 1920. The first part covers how the Irish Republican Army came to be. Considering how horribly Irish were treated by the British Army (which had some Northern Irish as enlistees). The idea is that if you take away men’s dignity, they will find a way to get it back. This section has the brothers Teddy (Padraic Delaney) and Damien (Cillian Murphy) on the same side, to the point of killing a young man who ratted them out. Then, after several guerilla type activities the British offer a truce to form a Free State. The problem is that it is free in name only, still British, still loyal to the King. This causes a rift between the brothers. Teddy becomes a Free Stater and Damien remains loyal to the idea of the Republic. This allows the story to tack on a family situation that it ignored for most of the film.
The actors all do well enough and Ken Loach, director, did well enough framing everything. The problem is that, when it isn’t incomprehensible, it’s dull.
About 20% of the time the British are lining up or imprisoning Irishmen and screaming while the Irishmen scream too. Then after the Free State is declared, the Free Staters take the place of the British and about 10% more time is spent yelling incomprehensibly. If this is supposed to be a metaphor, then I get it, I get it, I didn’t need to see it over and over again. If it supposed to make me feel sympathy for the Irish, then I get it too. When they aren’t screaming over each other, they are talking politics. YAWN.
The movie is a full 2 hours and I really couldn’t get into it because, despite the sympathy, there was very little else to care about. At one point Damien goes to see a “sick” child—the child isn’t ill he is just very malnourished. Instead of focusing more on this and more reasons why they would be willing to take on the guerilla tactics they do, they focus on training the boys how to crawl on their bellies without their butts in the air. In short, there was plenty of time and space to tell stories of exploitation and the other non-violent ways the British abused the Northern Irish in the years shortly after Ireland gained independence. But Mr. Loach decides to focus on training.
This is not a slam on Catholics, but the movie only covered Catholics. If the whole Northern Irish debate centered around Catholic only, it likely would have been settled long ago. Part of the Northern Irish problem is the Orangemen (Protestants who want to remain loyal to Britain and to remain part of it). Barley makes no mention of this at all as if the only people affected were Catholics.
Still the movie was so lost that adding an extra dimension would have sent a runaway train speeding faster down the tracks to a bad ending.
Finally, and this is the worst thing I can say about any film, I just didn’t care.
Recommended:
No
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More The Wind That Shakes the Barle... reviews
Ireland in the early Twenties exploded into armed rebellion against the British. In The Wind That Shakes the Barley, two brothers at first made opposite decisions. A group of Black and Tan British soldiers arrive at a farm where the brothers and a group of other young men are resting after a hurling game. The British terrorize everyone there, the men, the women, the aged and the young. They beat and kill one man for refusing to give his name in English. When they roar off, one brother, Teddy (Padraic … more
Comments (1)
Compliments (12)
review by Glanafosha.
January 02, 2008
I liked this film, although it wasn't perfect. It was well done, by an all Irish cast, filmed on location, or close to it, and fairly true to history for a piece of fiction. The brutality and the bitterness of the conflict are done realistically, although the violence is not glorified. Nonetheless, I found parts of the film rather dry, and it was longer than it needed to be. That detracted from my emotional involvement with the characters. The story is a good one, and the … more
Comment
Compliment
'The Wind That Shakes the Barley' transports us to its setting like few movies do. Like a taste of Ireland's Guinness Beer, the movie makes a strong impression that leaves a long aftertaste. Screenwriter Paul Laverty and Director Ken Loach take us to Ireland in 1920 when modern tensions met an apex. Brothers Damien (Cillian Murphy) and Paddy (Padriac Delaney) form with others, working with the IRA and political group, Sein Finn, to bring Ireland to independence. From the start a stark contrast is … more
Comments (2)
Compliments (12)
About the reviewer
Paul Savage (cyclone_march)
Ranked #10
Ranked #10
I name and describe everything and classify most things. If 'it' already had a name, the one I just gave it is better.
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About this movie
Cast:
Cillian Murphy,
Anthony Martin,
Liam Cunningham,
Padraic Delaney,
Orla Fitzgerald,
Mary Riordan,
Mary Murphy,
Lawrence Barry,
Damien Kearney,
Frank Bourke,
Myles Horgan,
Martin Lucey,
Aidan O'Hare,
Shane Casey,
John Crean,
Martin de Cogain,
Keith Dunphy,
Kieran Hegarty,
Gerard Kearney,
Shane Nott,
Kevin O'Brien,
Gary McCarthy,
Tim O'Mahon,
Graham Browne,
Owen Buckley,
Aidan Fitzpatick,
Vince Hannington,
Denis Kelleher,
Colin McClery,
Finbar O'Mahon,
John Quinlan,
Peggy Lynch,
Noel O'Donovan,
Peter O'Manhoney,
Barry Bourke,
Frank O'Sullivan,
Diamuíd Ó'Dálaigh,
Corina Gough,
Roger Allam,
Sabrina Barry,
William Ruane,
Dan O'Riordan,
Peg Crowley,
Fiona Lawton,
Kieran Ahmem,
Clare Dineen,
Sean McGinley,
Tomas Ohealaithe,
Nora Lynch,
Diamuid Ní Mheachair,
Denis Conway,
Barry Looney,
Connie O'Connail,
Aine O'Connor,
Frances O'Connor,
O'Riada Peadr,
Neil Brand,
Tom Chamock,
Alan Ready,
Mark Wakeling,
Anthony Byrne,
Marcus Anthony,
Billie Joe Armstrong,
Bill Armstrong,
Christopher Brown,
Mark Bryce,
Alex Dee,
Jonny Holmes,
Allan Huntley,
Bill Hurst,
Daniel Kington,
Jamie Lomas,
Owen McQuade,
Richard Oldham,
Colin Parry,
Scott Peden,
Bernie Sweeney,
Derek Taylor,
Neil Alan Taylor,
Gregor Wood,
Mary O'Riordan
Director:
Ken Loach
Genre:
Drama
Release Date:
March 16, 2007
MPAA Rating:
Unrated
DVD Release Date:
September 04, 2007
Runtime:
2hrs 6min
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