My grandfathers story it seems

Rating: 9/10 (12 September 2007)

As the filmed opened I was stunned with those West Cork Hills. My Grandfather was from Ballyvourney and much of the film was shot in the Ballyvourney-Ballingeary area, as far as I know and what the closing credits suggest. My comments won't be to re-cap the film(plenty of good ones here) but to just, I guess, vent. As an American descendant of Corkonians from San Francisco I quite literally grew up with those who are genetically and geographically tied with those portrayed in TWTSTB. For heavens sake my great uncle Jer founded San Francisco's first hurling league, the Rebel Corkers in 1928. Enough of the bona-fides... Listen, I love Loaches' work and generally loved the film for the same reasons of most of the others that have responded here. I sympathize, however , with those who found the depiction of the mercenaries as being one dimensional. If not for historical realities, at least for dramatic ones, I would have liked to see what drove probably good people in any other circumstances , ex-cons or not, to murder for the Crown. Lord knows I'm seeing some of my own countrymen coming back from Iraq with much of the films content on their shoulders. I saw that beautifully portrayed in those involved with the Flying Columns but missed it with their adversaries. Maybe that was Loaches point, to give the Cork view of things from that time. Fair enough, but still. As far as you U.K. viewers go I walked out of that film thinking more about the futility of people shooting at one another than anything else. As a quote in the film said, "I hope this IRL. we're fighting for is worth it". On a lighter side, I guess, the court scene was great. Those were some of the Irish women I grew up with. Thanks be to God. Anyhow see the film. My views are more for those of you that did. E-mail me back, esp. if you're from the U.K or IRL. Peace, Richard @ crowerh@gmail.com