The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)

| Drama,War
Ireland / English
"Winner of the PALME D'OR at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.
" A sympathetic look at Republicans in early 20th century Ireland, and two brothers who are torn apart by anti-Brit rebellion.
|
The truth hurts
Saw it at private screening too.
Editorial from a Cork newspaper sums it up well:
This wind shakes more than barley
In Ireland we are in rare position internationally when it comes to our
media. Most of what we read, listen to and watch is usually interpreted
in two perspectives, through our own media and through that of our near
neighbours across the Irish Sea. There are other instances of large and
small neighbours with a common language (Germany and Austria; USA and
Canada; Australia and New Zealand), but nowhere is the penetration of
the larger nation's media into the neighbouring market as pronounced as
it is in Ireland. Viewership of UK TV stations and readership of UK
owned newspapers in Ireland is at a level that makes them as
significant to our view of the world as our own media. This breeds a
familiarity with our neighbours that can make us Irish assume the
British know as much about us as we do about them. Nothing could be
further from the truth however as has been graphically illustrated by
the reception given in Britain to Ken Loach's Palme d'or winning movie
The Wind that Shakes the Barley. There is no question that this film
makes the British forces look bad, but of course the reality as all
Irish people know is that they were. In the UK normally reasonable and
intelligent reviewers and commentators cannot cope with this depiction
of occupying British forces as violent repressors of a largely
defenceless native population. It has been described as unbalanced and
portraying the valiant British soldiers in an unfair and unflattering
light. The truth is that the vast majority of British citizens couldn't
tell you where Galway is and why should they? They're ignorance of
their own colonial past so close to home and denial of it shouldn't
surprise us; it is not something to be proud of. This is not to attack
Britain, but to remind Irish readers of UK newspapers and viewers of UK
television that Britain is indeed a foreign country. They view the
world through an entirely different perspective than us, and in truth
our views are inconsequential to them. That's why Loach's film, which
tells essential truths, will not get a general release in the UK.
Despite the fact that Anglo-Irish relations are probably better now
than they have ever been the truth about Britain's history in Ireland
is something that they just aren't ready for, and probably never will
be.
PersonalSeen it: | Nej |
Nr of disks/tapes: | 1 |
Storage device: | Divx 5 |
 |
Loan