Three posts in the one day, I must be busy at work!
Went to see The Wind That Shakes the Barley on Friday, and meant to post this then, but I forgot[1] Is there a better actor out there at portraying pro-English propaganda than Roger Allam ;) He was great in V for Vendetta as the “England Prevails” character, whatshisface Prothero. And in TWTSTB he gives another great, if small, performance as a p-spitting character[2] This time wanting god to preserve Ireland from the likes of Damien & friends as they fight for independence, or in his words, create a priest-ridden backwater[3]
It is a good film[4] btw, if you get the chance, you should try and catch it. You may not get the chance if you are in the UK as I’ve read that it is getting a limited release, on account of being so anti-English as to make The Patriot pro-Empire. It isn’t, of course, but that is the way certain sections of the media have reported it. It doesn’t show the soldiers in a great light, but they are acting as Black & Tans and The Auxillaries. And many of them are actual British soldiers who told Ken Loach that that is exactly how they would act if faced with a hostile population. Without the random murders of course.
It hasn’t been released in the US yet.
I may go see it again at some stage this week.
- Forgot, was too lazy. All the same I suppose. ↩
- not peas, or pee. But words beginning with P. See? ↩
- – something like that. IMDb have no memorable quotes for me to check ↩
- although the quality of hurling during their training wasn’t great. All ground hurling, was it hockey they were playing, eh lads? ↩
Was the Palme d'Or deserved then?
Well I haven't seen the others, but I think it deserved the win. I was quite impressed, and wasn't sure I would be, seeing as I've always been pro-treaty and this is more from the anti-treaty side.
Gah! I meant to see that film while I was in the UK, but I failed miserably. Any idea when it plans to reach my side o' the pond?
I didn't even realise it got the Palme d'Or. Duh! I was just in Cannes, too. Why am I always out of the loop!! Fortunately there are other pretty cunning individuals afoot.
Hey Nome,
I don't think it had been released by the time you left the UK, it only came out last Friday, I think.
As for US release dates, IMDb, source of all film-knowledge is sadly lacking in the case of this film. No US release date, and it gets at least one of the character's names wrong, calling him Donica which had me puzzled til I realised it was meant to be Donncha/Doncha/Donnacha (depending on the parents).
Or maybe even Donnchadh. Their hurling wasn't the best but then Ballingeary isn't exactly the heart of hurling country as far as I know. So frustrating the way this film has been received in England… would drive you mad.
Yup, that's another version. Maybe I shouldn't be too hard on IMDb for getting it wrong :)
I have no time for films that portray all British people as tossers, or evil. Like the little of The Patriot that I saw. But the thing with TWTSTB is that there are actually no real British characters, so we shouldn't expect to see nuances to them. I mean, there are British soldiers in the film, but they aren't onscreen enough to be developed. Although that being said there is the little rant about the effect of the Somme. And the Grogan character.
online? onscreen. Tut tut. :-)
I have no idea what you are talking about NM, I quite clearly typed onscreen up there, can't you read?
What do you mean I edited it?
:roll: