"The Irish in Film"

The Irish film series continues on October 16th with "The Wind that Shakes the Barley" (2006, directed by Ken Loach. Set during the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921) and the Irish Civil War (1922-1923), it's the story of two brothers, Damien (Cillian Murphy) and Teddy O'Donovan (Padraic Delaney). Damien joins Teddy's IRA brigade, which is arrested after an attack on a police barracks. Teddy is horribly tortured by British offers, yet the brothers and most of the brigade managed to escape. Damien then takes over as leader. He shoots an IRA informant and an Anglo-Irish landlord, causing the Auxiliaries to retaliate. When the Anglo-Irish Treaty is signed, the brothers disagree over its terms with Damien continuing to fight for a united Ireland. The battle in Dublin sparks the Irish Civil War with the brothers still divided. Teddy sides with the pro-Treaty forces and Damien participates in the guerrilla warfare against the Irish Free State. The film's title comes from an Irish Republican song.