The Wind That Shakes the Barley

The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)

  • 88% of critics liked it
    (113 reviews)

  • 85% of users liked it
    (35,591 ratings)

Two brothers are caught on differing sides of the battle for Irish freedom in this politically minded historical drama from veteran British filmmaker Ken Loach. It's 1920, and Damien O'Donovan (Cillian Murphy) has recently graduated from medical school. Damien plans to leave the small… More

Play Trailer

PG-13,
Directed By
Written By
Paul Laverty
Genres
Drama
In Theaters
Mar 16, 2007 Wide
IFC First Take

Critic Reviews

  • Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

    Gripping, powerful, heart-breaking.

  • Marta Barber, Miami Herald

    The Wind that Shakes the Barley is a multi-layered story, and the more you see those different aspects, the more you'll enjoy the film.

  • Kyle Smith, New York Post

    Raises hard questions about Ireland's uncanny ability to kneecap itself.

  • Robert Denerstein, Denver Rocky Mountain News

    [Loach] has made an often handsome, always sobering movie that does what the best movies do: leave us a whole lot less sure about what we ought to think.

  • Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

    [Loach is] the master of the docu-drama or the realist social film, and Wind is one of his masterpieces.

Read all 19 critic reviews

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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

  • xGary X


    A pair of working class Irish brothers are caught up in the troubles during the social upheaval caused by the fight for independence in 1920. Set during the same period as Neil Jordan's Michael Collins, The Wind That Shakes The Barley is a far more personal representation of the… More

  • Reid V


    This film tackles head on the all-consuming power of an idea and the evolving nature of that idea in the face of reality. Like other films about the liberation movement in Northern Ireland such as Paul Greengrass' Bloody Sunday or Steve McQueen's Hunger, it is brutal,… More

  • Dan S


    A well-done, powerful story concerning the battle for Ireland amongst the IRA (led by Cillian Murphy) against the power-hungry British during the 1920's. Director Ken Loach picked out some really gorgeous backdrops to film this story, and this add to his overall epic scope… More

  • Anthony L


    Historical films are to be approached with caution these days but in Loach you can trust. This is an uncomfortable but balanced history lesson, never really showing anyone in a particularly great light but never shying away from the human condition, warts and all. It's very well… More

  • familiar s


    This one was a let down. I've seen many such stories of revolutionaries (replace Irish by Indians) fighting against British, and compared to them, this seemed quite pale (no offense intended). Having said that, I gotta admit that it wasn't a total failure. The vicious… More

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

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