Blog 3: "The Wind That Shakes The Barley" Film

"The Wind That Shakes The Barley" is a 2006 Irish-European film directed by Ken Loach, a British television and film director. The movie won the Palme d'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.

It's interesting how the movie manages to tell a really bloody story, that is the Irish Independence War, without being explicit on the way it shows it. I think this speaks very well for the author's way of working and his personal point of view of historical events that affected both his nation, United Kingdom, and the one he depicts in the movie, the neighboring Ireland, that was being opresed at the time by the first one. He manages to deliver a strong political message without needing to portray violence on film, cause the strength of the events speak by their own. For example, the scene of execution of Damien O’Donovan by the hand of his own brother, Teddy O’Donovan, doesn’t event need to have his blood split all over him: The power of the dramatic moment; the implication of a man being killed by his own blood, does all the job.

 

Obviously, if you don’t have good acting and direction in a movie, this will hardly be achieved. This was not the case. Ken Loach, at his almost 70 years of career, demonstrate us you don’t need all the Hollywood-ish paraphernalia to make a realistic and honest depiction of an historical success.

And that would be all for today! Hope you’ve enjoyed my blog. Bye!!