Of Empires and Men

When, in 1990, Ken Loach's film 'Hidden Agenda' - about intelligence operations in Northern Ireland - was presented at the Cannes Film Festival, it sparked a huge debate and a Tory MP described it as "the IRA entry." Fast-forward to the 2006 edition of the French festival where Loach won the first Palme d'Or of his career for 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley', his second movie about Ireland. Like its antecedent, this new film sparked many arguments, while critics accused Loach of anti-Britishness.

"Cannes is an incredible festival of world cinema, and to have won the prize with an international jury who voted unanimously for your film gives you a lot of pleasure," enthuses Paul Laverty, long-time Loach collaborator and writer of the film's screenplay. "Yet, the award also means that the film has received more attention as there's been a massive debate not only about the content, but also about the role of the film."

Taking its title from a ballad by Robert Dwyer Joyce, 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley' is set in the 1920s and tells the story of brothers Damien (Cillian Murphy) and Teddy O'Sullivan (Pádraic Delaney) who join the IRA to fight against the brutality of the Black and Tans. After the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty, the brothers find themselves set against each other, with Teddy supporting the Free Staters and Damien pursuing the IRA's dream of a totally independent Ireland.

Loach's critics accused the director of vicariously telling a story about Iraq through Ireland, but Laverty dismisses such suggestions as "nonsense." "This is a story Ken and I have been talking about for many years, long before the war in Iraq, as we both have always been interested in Ireland," he explains. "In my case this story also tapped into deep personal memories because my mother is from the west coast of Ireland and I remember hearing stories as a teenager about the Black and Tans from my cousins' grandfather."

One of the most challenging aspects of writing this film was the background research: Laverty spent many hours reading history books, newspaper reports, poems and letters, and interviewing the sons of men who were part of the Flying Column. "It was a difficult process," he explains, "trying to work out the complex reality of history was very tricky and, of course, there was also the great challenge of finding the intimate and the personal among it all, because a story only works if it rings true. It was also hard to figure out exactly what happened, as much of it is very heavily contested and the people who participated in all this are no longer here." But once things came together, the filming made it worth the effort: "During the casting and shooting there was a tremendous spirit," he says, "and we worked with some absolutely wonderful characters, from professional actors to ordinary people from the local community."

While Laverty tries to keep some distance from the victory at Cannes, he sees it as a great platform for the film. "The reaction to the Palme d'Or has been amazing," he states, "the right-wing press have been absolutely vitriolic in their attacks against Ken: The Sun said this is a film people must not see, others compared Ken to Leni Riefenstahl, the Nazi propagandist. What they are trying to do is to bury the film before people actually see it; they are determined to undermine it in any way they can. The British elite are so furious about the film because they cannot bear to see anyone challenge their notion of who they are or what the Empire was. They can't stand it when we say Ireland was one little corner of the British Empire and that instead of exporting democracy and decency, what they actually exported was violence, torture, murder and exploitation.

"I think it is very interesting how empires have been trying to rewrite their own history: for example, Gordon Brown recently said Britain must stop apologising for the Empire. I'm very interested in why empires lie about their past, and this story gave us a way of exploring this issue and of looking not only at what people fight against, but at what they fight for."

If the Latin adage "nemo propheta in patria sua" is true, Loach's new film might prove unpopular in Britain, where, according to the latest news, there are only 40 prints of the film circulating, against the 300 copies available in France. Perhaps abroad the film will draw different comparisons: it is likely that France will see echoes of the French Resistance and Italy of the Partisans' struggles in the O'Sullivan brothers' fight for independence. Hopefully, this will help refocus the debate about 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley' on the main themes of the films, which are, in Laverty's words, "young people making radical choices in their lives; courage, fear and betrayal; the struggle for independence and the terror of the war."