“The Wind That Shakes the Barley”
Director Ken Loach
IFC First Take
4 Paws Out Of 5
“The Wind That Shakes the Barley,” directed by English filmmaker Ken Loach, is a deeply tragic and heartbreaking story chronicling the idyllic beauty of Ireland and its people, and the politics that threaten to rip everything apart. It effectively harnesses both human emotion and violence in an authentic depiction of Ireland and its British domination in the 1920s.
The film begins with a group of young men laughing and shouting against a beautiful countryside. And, in contrast with the rest of the film, there’s more cheer in this light-hearted scene than everything that follows.
After witnessing the brutal British take the life of a friend, Damien O’Sullivan (Cillian Murphy, Golden Globe nominee for “Breakfast for Pluto”), his brother Teddy and others join the Irish Republican Army. Forced to go to extreme lengths in commitment to the army, they soon realize the severe restrictions placed on their freedom.
Murphy’s character is multi-dimensional, wholesome and identifiable as a passionate Irish rebel. His transformation from the creepy villain in films such as “Red Eye” and “Batman Begins” to such a determined protagonist is nearly flawless. His performance is just passionate enough to avoid overdramatization, making the entire film that much more realistic.
The romance between Damien and Sinead (Orla Fitzgerald) adds little to the plotline, besides a tearjerker ending. It does establish further sympathy for Damien and the Irish cause, which there’s already enough of in the film.
Yet the political accuracy of “Barley” is ambiguous. The British are portrayed as evil barbarians who cut off women’s hair and kill Irishmen who refuse to say their names in English. On the other hand, the Irish are mostly heroes, the women as politically fiery as the men, who spend their time defending their freedom and working on farms.
There is one scene in which the Irishmen take turns sharing their positions on the proposed Anglo-Irish peace treaty. It’s that whole stand up, speak passionately, and cheer kind of scene, something that in other films tends to verge on cheesiness. Somehow, the actors pull it off, for the scene is neither cheesy nor overdone. There is something profoundly human about the actors’ performances.
The entire film is wholly sympathetic to the ever-lovable Irishmen. But instead of being trite, it is sufficiently and beautifully profound.