Film Forum

Ireland, U.K., Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, 2006
Directed by Ken Loach
Written by Paul Laverty
With Cillian Murphy, Pádraic Delaney, Liam Cunningham
Approx. 126 mins. DCP.

“Cillian Murphy and Pádraic Delaney play brothers who join the Irish Republican Army in 1920 after witnessing the killing of a friend at the hands of the Black and Tans, the British body employed to suppress revolution in Ireland. As the conflict gets increasingly violent and friends and family are tortured and murdered, the brothers become ideologically divided, with tragic results. The film provoked controversy, with many critics decrying it (some without having seen it) for its negative view of the British.” – British Film Institute. Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.

Reviews

“Among the best war films ever made.”
– RogerEbert.com

“Injustice, in Mr. Loach's world, tends to be a simple matter. It resides in the unprincipled, dehumanizing exercise of power -- whether wielded by capital, the state, or an army of occupation -- against those who have none. The complications arise, and the arguments start, when the powerless try to fight back.”
– A.O. Scott, The New York Times