Watch The Wind That Shakes the Barley For Free

That was an excellent one.

Thanks for the memories!

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I watched this film when it was released in a limited amount of cinemas in the UK after it was made. Much like Kenneth Griffith's documentary about Michael Collins "released" or more accurately, suppressed in the 1970's (Hang Out Your Brightest Colours). It equally offended the British requirement to airbrush history and make the forces of the crown appear as defenders of all that is good and honourable. I've loved everything that Ken and his team have made. This year I've been researching my father's military history. He (Jack Donovan) joined the newly formed Free State Army on August 9th 1922 in Cork, just two weeks before Collins was shot at Beal na mBlath. He had served with Fianna Eireann from 1919 until the truce. He would have been about the same age as Chris Reilly in the film. I recall many of his stories of the civil war in west Cork, serving as a volunteer with the likes of "Teddy O'Donovan" in the movie. Ken's depiction of greens, reds, opportunists, gombeen men, idealists is as true to life as I could possibly imagine. Great drama. Great history.Thanks Ken. You put the record straight. Chris Donovan.

It's 1920 Ireland. Damien O'Donovan (Cillian Murphy), his crush Sinead (Orla Fitzgerald), and his friends are harassed by the British Black and Tans. His friend and Sinead's brother Micheail is beaten to death. He abandons practicing medicine in a London hospital to join the fight against British occupation under his brother Teddy (Padraic Delaney) who commands the local IRA brigade. They get captured and imprisoned with Dan (Liam Cunningham). Damien had witnessed the socialist train driver Dan being beaten by British troops for refusing to transport them. They manage to escape. After tough fighting, the Anglo-Irish Treaty is signed at the end of 1921. Teddy pleads for acceptance of the autonomous Irish Free State under the British crown. Damien follows Dan's fight for a socialist independent republic for the entire island. The two brothers end up on opposite sides of a civil war.The British are shown as sadistic villains. It's a little over the top but certainly not unexpected. The brothers' relationship could be more emphasized. Cillian Murphy is the star. I wish Padraic Delaney could be his equal. The most compelling parts are after the treaty when the brothers struggle to not fight each other. It turns a nationalist independence war into a personal family war. Cillian is so infuriating that I wanted to shake him. It ends not with a heroic fight but a family tragedy.

The Wind that Shakes the Barley is a politically sophisticated war film set during the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War between the years of 1919 and 1923. The film has a very authentic sensibility and depicts the war between the Irish Republican Army and the occupying British force. The British harass, intimidate, and murder the locals in their attempt to squash the rebellion, and the Irish utilize guerrilla tactics to ward off their occupiers. The film centers around two brothers who fight together for the IRA, and then later against each other on opposite sides of the Civil War after a compromise had been reached with the British. Barley examines two ideologies: one, the principle that people should fight to completely free themselves of oppression and imperialist occupation, and two, that the occupied should resist just enough to force concessions from the imperialists. The second faction turns on the first when they continue to fight for complete independence even after the Irish government signs a treaty with the British. While Loach's film portrays both factions in the Civil War with generally equal time, it's clear his film sides with the Republicans who didn't compromise their principles and continued to fight for freedom and true independence, and rightfully so.

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Liam Cunningham and Padraic Delaney this historical drama is about two brothers who find themselves on opposing sides in Ireland's struggle for freedom from Britain.With Ken Loach in the driving Activist seat, this is basically a War Movie - Dark and Forlorn but it has attributes of a deeply motivated tragedy that speculates the subject of Violence/ Family and ultimately Love. Cillian Murphy's performance really pushes the boundaries of how harrowing civil war is and how it deeply and beautifully effects everything he truly believes in. the music and cinematography is excellent. Ken Louch again challenges another issue for the Irish Republican Army. Another Great Irish Flick!!!!