understanding Ireland

Rating: Null/10 (11 July 2011)

Ken Loach has never shied away from political issues in his movies, and "The Wind that Shakes the Barley" is no exception. Cillian Murphy plays a medical student in 1920 Ireland. He plans to move to England to continue his studies, but after witnessing atrocities committed by the Black and Tans, he and his brother (Pádraic Delaney) decide to join the IRA. In addition to showing the brutality of the British towards the Irish, the movie also poses a question about independence: once a country gains independence, will it be business as usual just with different people in power, or will there be real change? This is definitely a movie that anyone who wants to understand the situation in Northern Ireland, and possibly the economic collapse that Ireland has had, should see.
Also starring Orla Fitzgerald, Liam Cunningham, Mary Murphy, Roger Allam, Shane Casey and Sean McGinley.