The Wind That Shakes The Barley

I've known about this movie for over a year. I've read a few reviews. Heck my own parents saw this thing (because they happened to venture to Ireland and see it there). Meanwhile I've been waiting patiently for it to come to the theater (it never did) and then patiently for it to come to dvd. It now has and I have now seen it. So now I can finally have an opinion on it.

The film is set in 1920 Ireland. This is a few years after the famous 1916 Easter Rebellion that was brutally crushed by the British and its leaders executed. The IRA in its original form fought a guerrilla campaign against the British occupiers, called Black and Tans for their uniforms. They were pretty notorious for their treatment of Irishmen and women. After such a mistreatment, Damien, previously believing that turning to violence would serve no purpose becomes militant towards the British. The film follows Damien and his brother Teddy as the fight against the British leading up to the truce which led to the establishment of the Irish Free State. Damien becomes a radical much more than his brother and in the end does not accept the treaty as enough, while Teddy becomes a Free Stater.

Truth be told, this film covered a lot of ground I was already pretty familiar with (albeit in a fictitious story). There is a half hearted attempt to humanize at least one of the British soldiers but it doesn't feel like Ken Loach was really committed to selling that point of view. In terms of story, it doesn't really matter if all British troops in Ireland were committing crimes and terrorizing citizens (and there is plenty of evidence, anecdote and belief that the majority of them were). It only matters that a select group was doing such and that it influenced Damien's decision to fight.

Beyond its novelty as a story, it isn't all that interesting. It plays on the same themes of war and violence and terrorism/freedom fighting as well as brother against brother civil war. Cillian Murphy as Damien is quite good especially in scenes that create the most tension, such as one in which he must execute a traitor. Actors stumble over their lines at time which made me wonder if it was intentional (that is the idea of incoherent expression of thought) or if it was just that he didn't have enough money to be doing multiple takes.

In the end it just feels like there is a bigger and more interesting story to told. Not that it wasn't well done, just that is wasn't very memorable for me.