Arts

Film: The Wind that Shakes the Barley

These days I take all my history lessons at the cinema. Curiously I'm more cautious of bias in reporting there than I am watching the TV news or reading books.

Today's lesson, The Wind that Shakes the Barley shows some of the beginnings of the Irish republican movement. From the start my sympathies were with the Irish but towards the end it was hard to know who to identify with. Just about everyone took a unique political path and the film does well to show how fractures and splits occur amidst even the most loyal group.

I found it impossible to watch without mapping it onto another situation where local people may see the British as an invading force. Once again I wonder what tales and lessons will come from the current conflict