Review of Land and Freedom (1995) by Bruno C — 19 Nov 2007

A young Liverpudlian communist travels to Catalonia to fight for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War, but soon finds himself disillusioned as in-fighting among the anti-fascists increases.

Loach is as impassioned as ever about important global issues - in this case the failure of the European communist experiment, and his art as a filmmaker is clear in a well-structured smooth film.

Yet again, the characterisation plays second fiddle to the polemic, which means the tale fails to engage deeply on a personal level.

But overall I salute Loach for pulling off a film largely in a language not his own. An important movie on a key period of 20th century European history which deserves more coverage.