Wind that shakes the barley Tagged Articles at Cinematical

British director Ken Loach, whose Palme d'Or-winning feature The Wind That Shakes the Barley has been criticized by some on the right as a "poisonously anti-British corruption of the history of the war of Irish independence", is ruffling political feathers again with his refusal to take part in the Haifa Film Festival. In response to the ongoing violence in Gaza and Lebanon, Loach "joined a Palestinian boycott of Israeli cultural institutions" and turned down an invitation extended by the Haifa event (though his film will be released in Israel as planned).

The director has a long history of political activism, most recently in the shape of his involvement with Britain's RESPECT, a political party driven by its opposition to the Gulf War. In his statement regarding the Haifa Festival, Loach "called on others to follow his example and also blasted the 'terrorist activities of the British and U.S. governments.'" So yeah, you could say he's a little upset about things in the Middle East.

The organizers of the massive Toronto International Film Festival announced the names of all 25 of their North American premieres (a number that amounts to about 2% of the roughly 30 zillion movies that will screen at the fest) yesterday, and it looks like Toronto is setting up to be Cannes West. Among those titles are such Cannes successes as Red Road, Shortbus, Babel, Nani Moretti's The Caiman and Palme d'Or winner The Wind That Shakes the Barley. The non-Cannes films on display include a refreshingly large group from Asia, including Time (Korea), Bliss (China), Invisible Waves (Thailand) and Takashi Miike's Big Bang Love: Juvenile A (Japan).

Though James covered many of the big Cannes premieres already, we will also be on the ground in Toronto and will catch up with a few of the films he missed (hey, one man can only do so much), hopefully including The Caiman; the 2006 TIFF unspools this fall, running from September 7 to September 16.

There has been fighting. Now, there is an occupation. Some cannot look away from the anger of the past. Some can -- and feel they must -- look to a different future. Men play games in the fields and laugh, then return to town to face armed soldiers who explain that any public gatherings, including their games, are illegal. One man resists the harassment. He is killed with casual brutality and the full support of the law. The survivors weep and rage, and know that their tax dollars pay for the troops who've left them bereaved.

Welcome to Ireland in the 1920's. Ken Loach's new film, The Wind that Shakes the Barley, is a portrait of a specific time in the life of a land and the specific choices in the life of a man. Damien (Cillian Murphy) is going to be a doctor; he's invited to London to study, an opportunity the likes of which can hardly be imagined, and can hardly be refused. His brother Teddy (Padraic Delaney) is involved in the local Republican resistance, and can't quite understand how Damien can ignore the nation's struggle and live his own life; Damien can't quite grasp how Teddy can't know he's beaten. But events bring Damien to a choice, and soon the young doctor finds himself fighting alongside his brother. Both men are willing to kill and die. But how they kill -- and how they die -- will go far beyond what they've imagined might happen. ...