My Inner World

Paddy's mother, Paddy's brother, Paddy and I went to see "The Wind That Shakes the Barley"

The movie is set in 1920's Cork, Ireland, when the English still occupied Ireland. The main character is a doctor, who initially wants nothing to do with the resistance. Then, after seeing one too many acts of savagery from the British on his way out of the country, he changes his mind and joins his brother in the IRA. The Irish Republican Army has a very bad name now, but then, the aim of the movement was very sincere and and, truth be told, needed.

The movie shows the horrible way the British treated the Irish. It makes you sit in your cinema chair with clenched fists, wishing there was a "Black and Tan" who's lights you could punch out!
At the beginning of the movie, there is a wake. The grandmother in the movie is singing in the tradtional Irish way (sean-nós). The auld biddy's voice moved me almost to tears. Her acting in the movie was outstanding all the way through. She looked and acted like she was plucked straight from the 1920's.

The acting in the movie was so natural that you felt almost like you were watching a documentary. They pull you in to their cause, in their want and need for a free Ireland. When the British make a "compromise", one half of the IRA decides to accept. The other decides to stick with it and inch towards total freedom. The brothers end up on opposite sides. The human element of it is striking.
I was told that a lot of the lines in the movie were improvised. To me, this shows the connection the actors have to this subject. They feel it.

Living in Ireland I have found that the subject is still very much alive with the Irish. Paddy’s great great aunt was slapped in the face by the Black and Tans on the street.
Paddy’s father’s girlfriend’s grandmother was a baby in the 1920’s. The Black and Tans burst in to their cottage in the mountains. She was asleep in her bassinet when they put a gun to her head and told her parents that they would shoot her if they didn’t give them the information that they were looking for.
There are stories like this in almost every Irish family. Every Irish person I have ever met, has a strong opinion regarding the British occupation. “The Troubles” are a part of Ireland that has caused more heartache and sorrow than you could possibly believe.

I liked this movie so much because it’s a genuine portrayal of the times. It shows the life of “normal” IRA soldiers in the 1920’s. We all know about the big leaders, about things that happened in Dublin. The men, woman and children that worked towards getting the British out of Ireland came from all layers of society. Seeing their fight portrayed was moving.

If you have any kind of interest in the Irish and their history, this is a must see.