Stangers In Their Native Lands

Rating: 8/10 (25 March 2008)

THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY is about on-par in the UK as the troubles the US has accepting its treatment of Native Americans. Mother England has calloused hands, and it's not all from hard work; some of it is from taking up arms against neighbors and suppressing democracy in favor of holding a death-grip on the finances of other countries. Which brings us to the formation of the IRA (Irish Republican Army) and this film's point.
Anyone with a working knowledge of history knows that northern and southern Ireland aren't exactly peaceful toward one another. And it isn't just about religion. Dating back to the 1920s and beyond, England flexed her mighty muscle over the Irish in order to keep a tight hold on its foreign provinces. The "emerald island" suffered incredible oppression and financial destitution at the hands of UK law and its enforcing military. This divided Ireland and its inhabitants on multiple levels. Peace versus non-oppression. Catholic versus Protestant. The rich versus the poor. It is an incredibly complex situation.
What this film does it put the perspective entirely on the IRA and why they became a force to be reckoned with. The story it surrounds is basically a microcosmic study which focuses on Damien (Cillian Murphy, BREAKFAST ON PLUTO), a student off to medical school but pulled up short by the atrocities he witnesses from English troops on Irish men, women, and children.
Damien's brother Teddy (Padraic Delaney) is already an IRA member when the film begins, and Damien's transition into their ranks is easily done. Teddy is a higher-up in the IRA and Damien is seen as second-in-command. The difficulties Damien has in turning from healing doctor-to-be, to that of a war-hardened killer are excellently filmed. The love between Damien and his brother is fraught with peril as the two eventually find themselves on opposite sides after the ratification of a peace treaty. Damien's descent into questionable morals (enabled by his brother) are handled very well by director Ken Loach who has an eye for panoramic vistas littered with fields of barley.
The barley is important to the film if a bit too obscure for most watchers. The title implies a 19th century poem by Robert D. Joyce in which young men fighting for Irish independence in 1798 would carry barley strands in their pockets. When they were killed, their bodies were buried and from there a barley patch would later emerge. With all of the barley sprouts visible around Ireland, there's little doubt how many young men died.
Although pretty lopsided as far as historical recountings go, the story of a young man's dedication to his country, his brother, and his own damaged morality are something rarely seen in a short 127 minute film. Most of the time it would take years of filming documentary material to get this sense across to an audience. But The Wind That Shakes The Barley really does shake up the watcher. Let us just hope that no more pockets need be filled with grain again.