The Wind That Shakes the Barley (film)

The Wind That Shakes the Barley
Theatrical release poster
Directed byKen Loach
Written byPaul Laverty
Produced byRebecca O'Brien
Starring
CinematographyBarry Ackroyd
Edited byJonathan Morris
Music byGeorge Fenton
Production
companies
  • Sixteen Films
  • Matador Pictures
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 18 May 2006 (2006-05-18) (Cannes)
  • 23 June 2006 (2006-06-23) (UK & IRL)
Running time
126 minutes[3]
Countries
  • Ireland
  • United Kingdom
  • Italy[1]
  • Germany[1]
  • France[1]
  • Spain[1]
  • Switzerland
Languages
  • English
  • Irish
  • Latin
Budget€6.5 million[1][4]
($8.3 million)
Box office$25.7 million[4]

The Wind That Shakes the Barley is a 2006 Irish war drama film directed by Ken Loach, set during the Irish War of Independence (1919–1921) and the Irish Civil War (1922–1923). Written by long-time Loach collaborator Paul Laverty, the film tells the fictional story of two County Cork brothers, Damien (Cillian Murphy) and Teddy O'Donovan (Pádraic Delaney), who join the Irish Republican Army to fight for Irish independence from the United Kingdom, only for the two brothers to then find themselves on opposite sides during the subsequent Irish Civil War.

The film takes its title from Robert Dwyer Joyce's "The Wind That Shakes the Barley", a song set during the 1798 rebellion in Ireland and featured early in the film.

Widely praised, the film won the Palme d'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.[5] Loach's biggest box office success to date,[6] the film did well around the world and set a record in Ireland as the highest-grossing Irish-made independent film, until surpassed by The Guard.[7]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Film – The Wind That Shakes The Barley (2006)". Element Pictures. Archived from the original on 11 July 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d The Wind That Shakes the Barley at Box Office Mojo
  3. ^ "THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY". bbfc.co.uk.
  4. ^ a b "The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2007) – Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  5. ^ "Festival de Cannes: The Wind That Shakes the Barley". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 13 December 2009.
  6. ^ News from the UK Film Council UKFilmCouncil.org.uk, 23 April 2007 Archived 30 April 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Loach Film Sets New Money Mark" RTÉ.ie, 8 August 2006