"The wind that shakes the Barley" is a film about the Irish war of independence, that was fought from 1919 - 1922.

This war resulted in the Free State Ireland, which had some independence from the United Kingdom, and Northern Ireland. In 1937 the Free State Ireland became the Irish Republic, which was wholly independent from the United Kingdom.

Films about Ireland are mostly about the tensions between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland during "The troubles" (1966 - 1998). "The wind that shakes the Barley" puts this troubles in a historical perspective.

The film consists of two parts. Part 1 is about violence on the side of the English occupier, part 2 is about Irish disunity.

The English violence in the movie did cause some discomfort at the time of release. We are accustomed to warcrimes perpetrated by Germans, but the English? It should however not be forgotten that the English used World War One veterans in the Irish war of independence. Particulalrly the "Black and tans" were notorious.

When we think of Irish disunity we think of the religious divide between Catholics and Protestants. In this film the central division is that between the Irish who are willing to accept the Free State (at least for the time being) and the ones who want total independence right now.

Another division which is somewhat overshadowed in the film, is that between Irish nationalists and the Irish socialists. I found this a little strange, because after all we are talking about a Loach movie. In some scenes though, this division did come to the surface. I am specifically talking about the scene in which a loan shark is convicted by an Irish "peoples court". This loan shark however also happens to finance weapons for the IRA. The question arises what the ultimate goal of the independece war really is? Is it only to change the accents of the powerful and the colour of the flag, or is it something more?

The key scene in this film is where Loach tries to justify siding with the Die-Hards in 1922. The Treaty had been approved by a majority in the Dail and the people of Ireland, North and South, voted 2 to 1 for the Pro-Treay candidates versus the Anti-Treay candidates. The Treaty therefore had democratic backing, but the Die-Hards decided to fight on, to take by force what they could not achieve by political means.

Most people would say that terrorists who ignore democratic decisions and inflict violence on others to impose their will on them, are fascists. Loach, however, takes their side in his incredibly selective (with the facts) and biased film. To hell with democracy, in other words, let's use murder and brute force to achieve our goal.

Loach presents the justification in the scene where the priest tells the congregation that the Treaty has been voted on and so it should be respected as the democratic decision of the people. Damien, our young hero, does not agree. "The Treaty does not express the will of the people; it shows the fear of the people." And that is it. That is all the argument that is needed to trample down a democratic decision.

Damien picks up his rifle and goes off to kill some of the Staters who support the Treaty. And we are meant to approve of that! Loach wants us to side with the fascist thugs, the Die-Hards, who would not accept the democratically agreed settlement of the Treaty and tried to murder their way to a 32-county socialist utopia. Loach does not care that the Treaty was a negotiated settlement which satisfied both ends of the island: the South got its independence and the North retained its link with Britain. He wants to bludgeon the North into acceptance. He does not acknowledge the wishes of the Northern Protestants once in his biased, narrow-minded version of events.

What is the message that Loach sends out to the fascists and terrorists of today? Clearly, he does not care that the Good Friday Agreement achieved the backing of 80% of the population of Ireland, North and South. The GFA is no better than the Treaty of 1922. It is a democratic, negotiated settlement, but fascists have no regard for such niceties. The present IRA have laid down their arms and are now pursuing constitutional politics. Loach must think that they should have fought on, planting bombs and murdering policemen, as their fanatical counterparts, the unreconstructed fascists of the Real IRA, are still doing. They are carrying on the brute-force tradition of the Die-Hards. They are trying to force the Northern Protestants into a united Catholic Ireland with terrorism. Does Ken Loach applaud their fascist atrocities? He does not disown them.

We all know that Ken Loach is left wing but this film is a bit over the top.

I normally admire Loach'es work - one of my favourite films is his Truffaut homage, Kes - yet Wind that Shakes the Barley is just a bit too anti-British. Okay, the Black and Tans must have been horrific, but what about the Republicans? It's just that we only see one side of the story in this film, just totally biased.

Black and Tans are shown pillaging the villages around Cork, wanton destruction and the like. It is just too one-sided, like a Tom and Jerry cartoon.

Otherwise, the filming is fantastic, full of lush, green countryside, just like in Devon. The acting is superb, too.

Worth watching, but not as good as Neil Jordan's Michael Collins. Too rural by half (not even any action in Cork city).