Product Description

Driven by a deep sense of duty and a love for his country Damien (Cillian Murphy) abandons his burgeoning career as a doctor and joins his brother Teddy in a dangerous and violent fight for freedom. As the Irish freedom fighters bold tactics bring the British to a breaking point both sides finally agree to a treaty to end the bloodshed. But despite the apparent victory civil war erupts and families who fought side by side find themselves pitted against one another putting their loyalties to the ultimate test. System Requirements:Run Time: 127 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 796019802529 Manufacturer No: 80252

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2012 in DVD
• Brand: WELLSPRING/GENIUS
• Released on: 2007-09-04
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 127 minutes

Amazon.com
Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, this gripping drama by Ken Loach (Raining Stones) is set during the early days of the Irish Republican Army, when British occupation of the Irish radicalized many a citizen and caused some to take up arms. Cillian Murphy plays Damien, a medical student on his way to London when he witnesses a couple of atrocities committed by British troops. Instead of becoming a doctor, he turns into a leading and respected figure in an IRA division led by his brother, Teddy (Padraic Delaney). The film provides some fascinating historical insight into the nascent resistance movement as it was in 1920, and Loach brilliantly conveys the profound emotional transition young men had to make to become saboteurs and killers. Loach's realistic style is absolutely mesmerizing, with many scenes built around the dynamics of large groups: contentious meetings, torture sessions, battles, celebrations, and the like. One has the sense of history as a pool of energy, and one also develops a kind of Renoiresque appreciation for the fact that different people on opposing sides of a life-or-death issue have their reasons for believing what they believe. As the story moves along, subtle shifts in the perspectives of men and women who had once agreed to be absolute in their fight for freedom results in a tragic yet understandable schism among Irish patriots. The final half-hour of The Wind That Shakes the Barley says a lot about how the Irish, including people who had known one another all their lives, turned their wrath on one another for so many decades. This is an outstanding film, featuring the best performance yet by Murphy (Red Eye). --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

What a powerful film
Many of us have Irish roots, and have been to the Republic of Ireland many times, and seen the emergence in recent years of the "Celtic Tiger." We have watched films about the fight for Irish independence from England in the early 20th Century, but "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" may be the most powerful and moving yet. Its ensemble cast is magnificent, including Cillian Murphy as Damien.

Ireland shared a kinship with the American colonies in its fight against the cruelty and subjugation of the British crown. Just like the American patriots who spurned any compromises with England short of total freedom, this film graphically records the Irish fight for that cherished goal--with brother sometimes pitted against brother, not unlike the American Civil War.

Some of us have Scottish roots and have been there too; and some day Scotland may be totally independent, like William Wallace fought for centuries ago. It is moving in that direction, peacefully.

The courageous American actor Sylvester Stallone said in an interview more than 20 years ago: "A survivor is someone who has to be somewhat of a loner and listen to his own inner voice. And the most important thing . . . a survivor has is to be able to take a totally desperate, negative, horrendous, pessimistic situation and turn it into a positive. And that can happen."

It happened with the American and Irish patriots. And it happens each and every day in the United States today when courageous men and women stand up and fight against injustices, especially those involving governmental functionaries who engage in prosecutorial misconduct and other unconscionable abuses.

Quick ship - Perfect Condition
Outstanding! Acting, directing, casting, etc. the best. I may be biased since my grandmother on my father's side came from Ireland to marry my grandfather, but I think not!! From stories I've heard and histories I've read about the Irish Revolution and the Irish Civil War, this movie is on target. The British were savage in their treatment of the Irish; and the Irish were savage in their treatment of the British and then of their own. This movie has something for everyone - history, action, war, love story...Outstanding!

Micro View Of the Irish Rebellion and Civil War
This film does an admirable job of telling the story of the Irish Rebellion against the British and the subsequent civil war following the treaty that Michael Collins negotiated with England. Using the device of a group of young friends who are first caught up together in the rebellion and then opposed to each other during the civil war the film's shortcoming is trying to distill a complex National History into the lives of a relatively small number of characters.
Nevertheless the acting is brilliant and the screenplay is very good for the most part although at times the political debates seem a bit contrived.
Overall I would recommend this movie as a solid historical drama that is beautifully filmed and very well acted.