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'The Wind That Shakes The Barley' set visit
Dave Calhoun catches up with Ken Loach on location in Ireland.
Jul 18 2005
'In your own time, and off you go,' says Ken Loach calmly to two of his actors as another scene rolls on his latest, Irish-set film 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley', ditching the traditional yell of 'Action!' for a gentler, more characteristic approach.
This is Loach's first period tale since 'Land and Freedom' (1995), and there are certainly parallels between this new film and that earlier story of internal struggle among freedom fighters during the Spanish Civil War.
This time, Loach's focus is the lead-up to the Irish Civil War of 1922 and the complexities of Ireland's struggle for independence at a grass-roots level. Once again, the director is showing concern for ordinary people who organise themselves to fight against foreign or oppressive rule.
The film has contemporary significance too. While 'Land and Freedom' reflected the problem of fascist resurgence in mid-'90s Europe, so the occupation of Iraq is surely not irrelevant to this new project.
We're in Bandon, a small town about half an hour outside Cork. Loach and two of his lead actors – Cillian Murphy ('28 Days Later', 'Batman Begins') and Liam Cunningham – are squeezed into a grey, windowless room in the basement of a former town hall.
Today, this dismal and cramped space represents an austere prison cell in County Cork in 1919. Dressed in period gear, Murphy and Cunningham are playing two captured members of Ireland's organised, armed resistance to British rule; they are members of one of the Irish Republican Army's 'flying columns'.
Neither character is a celebrated political figure or legendary military leader as this film is not a grand historical epic driven by well-known personalities and events.
Instead, Loach is exploring this tumultuous period in Irish history via fictional characters: two brothers, Damien (Murphy) and Teddy (Padraig Delaney), and their friend Dan (Cunningham). All three abandon their former lives to help execute a violent underground campaign against British rule.
'It's about the civil war in microcosm,' explains Loach's producer Rebecca O'Brien, a veteran of nine Loach films.
Several other key crew members – such as cinematographer Barry Ackroyd and sound mixer Ray Beckett – have also worked with Loach for years.
'It's not a story like 'Michael Collins', O'Brien continues. 'It's not seeking that sort of biographical accuracy, but rather will express the themes of the period. This is the core of the later Troubles, which is why it's so fascinating to make.'
Loach and his crew have been on location in Cork for five weeks now. Almost the entire cast are from the area, even Cillian Murphy the lead actor, who's better known, has a local pedigree.
The film has lingered long in Loach's mind. O'Brien explains that he first thought of telling the 'Irish story' when he made the inter-war drama series 'Days of Hope' for television in the mid-'70s.
Indeed his long-time screenwriter Jim Allen was working on a script (then titled 'The Stolen Republic') when he died in 1999. Two years ago, Loach's most recent writer, Paul Laverty ('Carla's Song', 'Ae Fond Kiss') took up the baton and has approached the story from scratch with a new script and an intense period of research in Ireland.
Later the same day, Loach fills a local hall with around 70 extras, old and young, all of whom are dressed up for a rousing ceilidh scene which takes place in that brief period of peace and optimism between the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921 and the outbreak of civil war the next year.
A local band – including a singer with a fantastic bird's nest of a white beard – plays traditional Irish party songs and the crowd dances wildly. Photos of heroes of the 1916 Easter Rising – James Connolly, Joseph Plunkett, Padraig Pearse – line the wall and the Irish tricolour flag hangs behind the stage .
Loach gives a quick pep-talk to the crowd: 'It's the summer of 1921, and you're all either members of a flying column or at least Republicans, and so are very enthusiastic about Irish culture. There's a real bar, but please don't go too wild. Still, this is a big film, so we can afford a drink for all of you.'
O'Brien, the producer, rolls her eyes in mock-horror at the words 'big film'. 'It's costing the equivalent of about four-and-a-half Batmobiles,' she later jokes. She then explains how costly it is to ensure the accuracy of the period detail, pointing to a modern phone box that the crew obscured with a horse-and-cart for an earlier scene rather than pay £400 for its temporary removal.
Before the party scene kicks off, Loach comes over for a quick word. 'It's typical, you managed to be here this morning for the only scene in which the word 'socialism' is used,' he grins, referring to an earlier prison-cell conversation between Damien and Dan in which they quote a speech by James Connolly, one of the martyrs of the Easter Rising.
Loach is quite aware of those detractors who criticise him for banging the political drum. 'But why do we shy away from these issues?' asks O'Brien. 'People fear politics. But here we're always trying not to shy away, to lay out the facts in a grown-up way. We don't want to pander to the lowest common denominator. We want to raise discussion.'
To read Dave Calhoun's Cannes review of 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley', click here.
And to read news of the film's Palme d'Or win, click here.
User comments on this story
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- John Smith said...
- Noel, British people at the time weren't happy about what was going on. They felt bad; made their feelings known and the B&Ts were disbanded. Shame it all happened - attrocities committed by the IRA in Irish people's name too. Posted on Aug 24 2006 08:43
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- Noel G said...
- I saw this amazing film at the Melbourne Film Festival. I though it would just be me and a few other home sick paddies but the place was full to capacity. It is an incredible film, deeply upsetting and unsettling. My one wish from this film is that more British people see it and understand a tiny bit about what was done in their name. Posted on Aug 18 2006 02:40
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- max middleton said...
- when will the video/DVD be available? Posted on Aug 16 2006 05:41
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- Nick Clark said...
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Hi!
My names Nick Clark too!!
Isn't that great! Perhaps the three of us should cyber squat this place and make it only a meeting point for people called Nick Clark! Yay! Posted on Jul 31 2006 13:43 - Report as inappropriate
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- Grainne said...
- the film was a classic really enjoyed it. Hope to see more of Cillian Murphy in the future lol G xxx Posted on Jul 25 2006 05:29
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- lisa said...
- this was a brilliant film...congrats to da cast nd every1hu worked on it... Posted on Jul 23 2006 16:58
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- meself said...
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Now I live in China so rely on pirated copies, indeed without these China would no nothing of the western world or history. I teach here and have told my students and they have not been able to find one copy either on the internet or otherwise.
I also would like to see the movie, being credit cardless, and it would cost me half a months wages, cannot see the movie. For the sake of history please let it slip onto a site somewhere otherwise we will all be subjected to superman 3! Posted on Jul 22 2006 14:38 - Report as inappropriate
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- Mia Dowling said...
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My grand was shot by the black and tans the stories he told us was the worst i have ever heard,when he was better he done all he could to help his people fight on the british should be a shamed of themselves for all the things they done to the irish people.
from Mia who is proud to be irish Posted on Jul 21 2006 15:44 - Report as inappropriate
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- Jean said...
- I was in Ireland just before this film was released and heard much of the talk about it. It probably will not come to many theatres in the U.S. which is sad. The reviews cite the film as historically accurate creative non-fiction. Americans know about Northern Ireland and the Sinn Fein but few know the history of the Republic of Ireland. I hope it will be released on DVD. The history of Irish rebellion and fight for their freedom was a complex and long series of battles, culminating with the Irish Civil War. Posted on Jul 21 2006 10:32
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- Sue said...
- When will this be out on DVD to purchase?? Posted on Jul 21 2006 10:24
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- Mark said...
- "Some" Irish people I hasten to add. Most in the South did not! Posted on Jul 18 2006 10:06
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- Mark said...
- Yes it is all to easy to say one side was good and one was bad. The times were complex. I mean it isn't as simple as saying that the IRA were terrorists. It was an odd time when Irish people were actually supporting the British and the Black and Tans had Irish soldiers in. Posted on Jul 18 2006 10:05
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- AineGriffin said...
- First hand accounts of the reign terror and planned distruction of the Irish spirit by the Black and Tans under General Tudor makes fascinating and frightning reading,No Film could protray all the horrors commited by this ruthless group of "service men" in the name of British Authority,I used the fighting stories of Cork Limerick Dublin and Kerry to gain info on my own familys past .The first Hand accounts recorded in these books by Irish beople in the aftermath of the war are shocking and terribly disturbing.We paid a high price for our Republic, Why did General Tudor spend his years in Exile in Canada never sure when terror would come to his own door.,Thank you to Ken Loach for his efforts to educate the world by portraying this piece of Irish history in a media that everyong will understand.Cùm ris!sealbhort! agas Go raibh míle maith agat a cairde Posted on Jul 17 2006 07:42
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- John Devane said...
- I'm looking forward to seeing Ken Loaches's film. Ireland's struggle for independence owes so much to the Irishmen and Irishwomen of the early 20th century who fought against the odds. Like most films I suspect it will only give a flawed account of the complex issues involved. The consequences of partitioning ireland left a legacy that's barely been addressed today. It's not about painting Brits = bad Irish = good. injustices were meted out on ireland and this period of Irish/British history goes a long way to explain how we all arrived at the position we are in today. An Ireland still divided. The GFA after 30years of a dirty war. It's not much but it's a start! Posted on Jul 12 2006 22:07
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- Joan Ross said...
- Will we get it in Perth Western Australia soon ? Posted on Jul 12 2006 21:28
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