Review of The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006) by Cameron J — 09 Mar 2014

Ken Loach shoehorns socialism even less subtly than usual into the tentatively accurate story of Irish Republicanism. Screw any mention of a refusal to accept partition, or for that matter the Protestant Ulster Irish. Ignore any sectarianism you may have heard of based on religion or national identity. The IRA were (according to Loach) all about secular socialism.

Loach typically demands we accept his re-imagining of the past no questions asked, and this would be just about manageable if it were logical, let alone accurate. But the 'Hero' of the piece (Murphy) shows a frankly childish devotion to an unworkable cause (Even Marx didn't expect Marxism to work in the countryside!). Loach expects rather than drives us through subtle story-telling to feel sympathy as and when the flippant Murphy does. So we are to be horrendously upset when socialist godfather (Dan) dies, but feel no qualms at all about the ambushes of (what are surely fellow proletarian) British soldiers and later brother Irishmen. To be honest, by the time Murphy's execution rolled around I was happy to see him and his selective reading of reality go. Deleaney's character is the only one I felt any sympathy for in the end, due to being forced into his predicament by his stubborn (not devoted, just stubborn) brother. If one wishes to see a decent, accurate and far more nuanced portrayal of the Irish War of Independence and the subsequent Civil War, watch Michael Collins (the production value is better too!).