THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY is part of MoMA series on films about Ireland, curated by Gabriel Byrne
THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY (Ken Loach, 2006)
MoMA Film, Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53rd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Wednesday, May 25, 8:00
Friday, May 27, 4:30
Series runs May 20 – June 3
Tickets: $10, in person only, may be applied to museum admission within thirty days, same-day screenings free with museum admission, available at Film and Media Desk
212-708-9400
www.moma.org
www.thewindthatshakesthebarley.co.uk
Winner of the 2006 Palme d’Or at Cannes, The Wind that Shakes the Barley is a brutal masterpiece from director Ken Loach (Riff-Raff, Bread and Roses). It’s 1920, and the English black and tans are running roughshod through Ireland, leaving broken and dead bodies in their wake as they keep the population frightened and in poverty. But poorly armed yet determined local guerrilla armies are forming, prepared to fight for freedom in their homeland. In one small town, Damien (Cillian Murphy) is getting ready to move to London to train as a doctor, but he decides instead to join the burgeoning Irish Republican Army after seeing one too many bloody beatings. Swearing their loyalty to the cause and led by Damien’s brother, Teddy (Padraic Delaney), they set up ambushes of British forces, gathering weapons in a desperate attempt to win back their country. Damien also falls for Sinead (Orla Fitzgerald), one of many women who work as messengers and spies and run safe houses. But when a questionable treaty is signed, loyalty is tested and families torn apart. Written by Paul Laverty and also featuring Liam Cunningham, Mary Riordan, Myles Horgan, and Mary Murphy, The Wind that Shakes the Barley is a fierce, no-holds-barred, if one-sided, look at a violent conflict that has lasted for centuries.
The Wind that Shakes the Barley is screening May 25 and 27 as part of MoMA’s “Revisiting The Quiet Man: Ireland on Film” series, curated by Gabriel Byrne and featuring such other works made in and/or about Ireland as The Magdalene Sisters (Peter Mullan, 2002), The Dead (John Huston, 1987), The Informer (John Ford, 1935), The Butcher Boy (Neil Jordan, 1997), and Into the West (Mike Newell, 1993), with such actors, directors, writers, and experts as Jim Sheridan, Enda Walsh, Dr. Luke Gibbons, and Byrne participating in introductions and postscreening discussions and Q&As that examine the way Ireland has been portrayed on film throughout the years and how that relates to the true social and cultural concerns of the nation.