Saddening and harrowing film that takes on a scenario to do with occupation before going down a route of questioning one's loyalties towards others within.

Rating: 8/10 (17 December 2008)

The Wind That Shakes the Barley is the second film I've seen in recent times that recreates an historical setting and uses the English as a source of antagonism, the other being Braveheart. The great thing about these two films are their resistance to daft demonisation of the English and their triumph in putting across a humbling, or perhaps in this film's case, quite a frightening account of the sorts of people whom existed and the events that occurred in Ireland in the early 1920s. I think it's somewhat of a triumph for Ken Loach to present this story within this time and setting and not give either 'side' any particular preference, more so tell a story of an oppressed nation before veering off into a realm in which how control of a nation between two domestically opposing sides would play out.
What elevates The Wind That Shakes the Barley over other films such as Munich or Schindler's List, both Spielberg films attempting to be 'serious', is that is doesn't necessarily take a certain side. We're all supposed to feel really bad when a Jew is executed in Schindler's List and rightly so and when that nasty German gets his comeuppance, there is a distinct thrill that the 'evil' has been defeated for all caused earlier. Similarly, when a Palestinian is wiped out in Munich by one of the Israeli agents, we're supposed to get another kick out of seeing a 'bad guy' get his just deserts following the introduction of events in the first five minutes. In this film, there are no thrills or kicks in seeing opposing forces hunt each other down or execute one another in retaliation for prior events; just a sombre and nasty feeling that humanity failed all those decades ago.
In another sense, it isn't played for entertainment. When we're presented with a group of English soldiers going about their brutal business on innocent Irish folk, we feel bad; when the Irish retaliate, we feel even worse and then the English get one back on them and we feel even worse still. It's that unrelenting and brutally efficient action-reaction that draws you into this film, all within the opening forty minutes or so, before opening up into another sort of beast entirely.
The film follows a young man, a young man of great knowledge given the fact he's a budding doctor and a young man whose career role demands he help or aid people. But the young man is a patriot, and he levels he finds himself attaining shock the audience. The young man is Damien, someone on the brink of leaving Ireland for England itself to begin his illustrious career working in a hospital were it not for the beating of a train crew at the station he was due to depart from. The beating tilts Damien over the edge as to whether he'll stay or leave; this followed the beating of one of his own friends after a hurling match. The scene in which Damien witnesses the station beating tells us that if he were to stay, it would not be purely for his friends and family who are at risk but more-so for all involved. He did not know the train crew in that scene but he is willing to stay behind and fight for the cause, not just for friends but for unknowns as well and this sets up a compassionate resonance in the audience's minds for this character.
The film is divided as a tale about dealing with oppression and then the struggles the Irish had with one another regarding a new order following a British ultimatum. Initially, the film is a scale waving towards Irish and British acts of violence. Some of the more harrowing scenes include a torture session involving fingernails and later on, a captain or figure of higher order, being executed after having handed over letters to his executor addressed to his family telling them how much he loves them and that they will not meet again in this life. The film is a grimy and no-holds-bared look at this sort of set up, echoing the work achieved in another 2006 film entitled Black Book as a sort of look at a depressing and downright dangerous way to live although feeling distinctly obligatory given they're fighting for a right.
But it is the announcement of the Anglo-Irish Treaty that proves to be a turning point in the film. The trigger for the Irish Civil War from June 1922 does not force the film down a route of political intrigue and mind-games complete with espionage more than it does create a pot-boiler in which allies must weigh up possibilities and Damien must come to terms with a new romantic interlude on top of things. The Wind That Shakes the Barley works because it's told from a perspective that really matters and initially, that perspective is of the victims'. Like films such as The Pianist and Come and See, a delicate and fragile hero is placed within a situation created by politics and hatred and the person must undergo certain changes whilst taking on certain duties, and it is harrowing just as it is fascinating all the same.