A New Entry In My All-Time Top 10 Worst Movies Ever

Rating: 2/10 (2 August 2006)

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! Granted the good word I had heard about this movie had indeed come from those who would at least sympathise with the Republican movement but, to be honest, I was nonetheless looking forward to seeing this movie which was to be a no-nonsense film shot in the very county in Ireland in which I grew up. I was wide of the mark in my ignorant optimism and how dull was the resulting pain in my head after viewing this.
When one sees a movie such as, say, "The Dukes of Hazzard", one enters the cinema with expectations set rather low and is thus rarely disappointed. "The Wind That Shakes The Barley" had presented itself as something more and the bar had been raised appropriately. It merely a pity that, to me, the bar was to be vaulted over and not, as this movie excelled at doing, limbo-danced under.
The acting, directing, cinematography, script, editing, sound and plot were all poor, albeit with a few exceptions in the acting department. I do however get the feeling that some actors were directed to stutter their lines in an effort to make the dialogue seem more real but this only resulted in the poor lines jarring even further. In fairness to the actors, there were no characters to work with in this effort, only stereotypes.
Some points of note: - the amateur camera-work when panning left and right and up and down and left and up and down and right when the main house of the movie is set on fire - the primary school-like debate on the issues in an office - the main character moaning how he had tried to avoid getting involved in the war but couldn't and then tried to get out but couldn't. Rubbish! His friend was killed but he was to leave for London. What stopped him was seeing a train driver get a bit duffed up for refusing to carry soldiers! He made zero attempt to leave the war - none! - the simplified version of events around the shelling of Republicans in Dublin's Four Courts was almost funny.
I hope I never have to watch this movie again and not because of its harrowing drama, which is sadly lacking, but because it was one of those movies where I almost walked out for the first time. To shoot a movie in a beautiful area, such as West Cork, and for none of it to come through on-screen is truly a remarkable feat. How this won a prize in Cannes is anyone's guess. The wind may shake the barley but, for my money, all it's doing here is blowing tumbleweed through this ghost-town of a movie.