The 1970 edition of the Cannes Film Festival was noted for giving rise to several bold new voices. Robert Altman arrived as an established (and notoriously troublesome) TV director but left a Palme d’Or winner with M*A*S*H, his launchpad to becoming one of the most pivotal figures of contemporary cinema. In the Directors’ Fortnight competition, then a year old, the German absurdist comedy Even Dwarfs Started Small gave audiences a hint of what a 20-something festival first-timer named Werner Herzog might have up his creative sleeve.
Over in the Critics’ Week sidebar, a rising English director named Ken Loach also was making his Cannes debut (like Herzog with his second feature).
The bespectacled 33-year-old had arrived as part of what he describes as a “rather snooty” U.K. delegation that didn’t have much time for someone then known for hard-hitting TV docudramas and not considered part...
Over in the Critics’ Week sidebar, a rising English director named Ken Loach also was making his Cannes debut (like Herzog with his second feature).
The bespectacled 33-year-old had arrived as part of what he describes as a “rather snooty” U.K. delegation that didn’t have much time for someone then known for hard-hitting TV docudramas and not considered part...
- 5/16/2023
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Fremantle has acquired international distribution rights to “Taken Down,” a politically minded crime series directed by David Caffrey (“Pinky Blinders”) and produced by Spiral Pictures.
Set in contemporary Ireland, the series follows an investigation launched in the aftermath of the violent death of a young Nigerian migrant who was found abandoned close to a Direct Provision Centre, where refugees wait for political asylum.
Commissioned by RTÉ Television in association with Arte France, “Taken Down” stars Aissa Maiga (“Anything for Alice”), Brian Gleeson (“Resistance”), Lynn Rafferty (“Love/Hate”). The cast is completed by Orla Fitzgerald (“The Young Offenders”) Jimmy Smallhorne (“Love/Hate”), Barry Ward (“The Fall”), Enoch Frost (“Skyfall”) and Slimane Dazi (“A Prophet”).
“‘Taken Down’ is a gripping and authentic drama which highlights the reality of living as a refugee in Ireland today,” said Rebecca Dundon, director of international acquisitions at Fremantle. The executive said the series will have “global audiences transfixed...
Set in contemporary Ireland, the series follows an investigation launched in the aftermath of the violent death of a young Nigerian migrant who was found abandoned close to a Direct Provision Centre, where refugees wait for political asylum.
Commissioned by RTÉ Television in association with Arte France, “Taken Down” stars Aissa Maiga (“Anything for Alice”), Brian Gleeson (“Resistance”), Lynn Rafferty (“Love/Hate”). The cast is completed by Orla Fitzgerald (“The Young Offenders”) Jimmy Smallhorne (“Love/Hate”), Barry Ward (“The Fall”), Enoch Frost (“Skyfall”) and Slimane Dazi (“A Prophet”).
“‘Taken Down’ is a gripping and authentic drama which highlights the reality of living as a refugee in Ireland today,” said Rebecca Dundon, director of international acquisitions at Fremantle. The executive said the series will have “global audiences transfixed...
- 9/11/2018
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
And look at that, not a leprechaun in sight.
For a relatively small island with a tiny film industry, Ireland certainly gets a lot of representation in movies — sometimes via other places masquerading as Ireland, other times by representing other places (the beach landing scene in Saving Private Ryan was shot in Wexford, for example) or worlds (Ahch-To in The Force Awakens), and occasionally it even gets to play itself. The island also exports a rather impressive number of cinematic talents considering the fact that, though every third or forth person you meet on the street in, say, Boston or Chicago (a lot of places, really) will claim Irish heritage, the Republic of Ireland has a population of slightly less than 4.6 million and Northern Ireland slightly more than 1.8 million, bringing the island to a total of only around 6.4 million. In other words, still around 2 million less than before the Famine, over...
For a relatively small island with a tiny film industry, Ireland certainly gets a lot of representation in movies — sometimes via other places masquerading as Ireland, other times by representing other places (the beach landing scene in Saving Private Ryan was shot in Wexford, for example) or worlds (Ahch-To in The Force Awakens), and occasionally it even gets to play itself. The island also exports a rather impressive number of cinematic talents considering the fact that, though every third or forth person you meet on the street in, say, Boston or Chicago (a lot of places, really) will claim Irish heritage, the Republic of Ireland has a population of slightly less than 4.6 million and Northern Ireland slightly more than 1.8 million, bringing the island to a total of only around 6.4 million. In other words, still around 2 million less than before the Famine, over...
- 3/16/2017
- by Ciara Wardlow
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Coda, the award-winning animated short from director Alan Holly, will play before all screenings of Patrick’s Day at the Light House Cinema in Smithfield when the film goes on release on Friday 6th February. Coda tells the story of a lost soul’s revelatory encounter with the spectre of death in a Dublin park. The film stars Brian Gleeson (Love/Hate, Standby) and Orla Fitzgerald (The Guarantee) and was produced under the Frameworks animation scheme. It has already won prizes including Best Animated Short Film at SXSW, Most Creative Short at the Edinburgh Short Film Festival, Best Animation at the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival, and was shortlisted for the 2015 Academy Awards® in the category of Best Animated Short Film. Patrick’s Day has been no slouch on the awards circuit itself, picking up prizes at the Galway Film Fleadh, the Cork Film Festival, the Woodstock Film Festival,...
- 1/28/2015
- by noreply@blogger.com (Tom White)
- www.themoviebit.com
New Irish feature film The Guarantee starring Love/Hate’s Peter Coonan, David Murray (Amber), Orla Fitzgerald (The Wind That Shakes The Barley), Morgan C. Jones (Vikings), and Gary Lydon (Calvary) will be hitting Irish cinemas on Thursday October 30th with a special live event to kick off the release. The first of its kind in Ireland, the live event screening will allow cinema audiences across the country to watch the film and take part in an interactive panel discussion and Q&A hosted by Today FM’s Matt Cooper live from Movies@Dundrum. Based on Colin Murphy’s stage play Guaranteed!, directed by Ian Power (The Runway) and produced by John Kelleher Media in association with the Bai, the Irish Film Board and TV3, The Guarantee recreates the drama surrounding the most significant political decision in modern Irish history when the Irish government decided to guarantee the entire domestic banking system.
- 9/18/2014
- by noreply@blogger.com (Tom White)
- www.themoviebit.com
Other winners at animation event include Manana Forever and Fongopolis.
Alan Holly’s short Coda won the top prize, the Anca Award, at Slovakia’s animation event Fest Anca that ended Sunday in the small town of Zilina, located near the borders of Poland and Czech Republic.
Following on from the film’s previous accolades at SXSW, Edinburgh and Galway, the Irish director continued to impress jury members with his hand-drawn animation and storyline depicting a young man who is confronted with death.
UK-based animator and installation artist Max Hattler, along with other jury members including Slovakian producer Peter Badac and Swiss animator Michael Frei, handed out the award saying, “This made us want to die in the best possible way.”
Holly, pleased by the award along with the event’s festive offerings, added, “Sorry I slept in and missed my own screening. This festival has been tons of fun.”
Coda was produced...
Alan Holly’s short Coda won the top prize, the Anca Award, at Slovakia’s animation event Fest Anca that ended Sunday in the small town of Zilina, located near the borders of Poland and Czech Republic.
Following on from the film’s previous accolades at SXSW, Edinburgh and Galway, the Irish director continued to impress jury members with his hand-drawn animation and storyline depicting a young man who is confronted with death.
UK-based animator and installation artist Max Hattler, along with other jury members including Slovakian producer Peter Badac and Swiss animator Michael Frei, handed out the award saying, “This made us want to die in the best possible way.”
Holly, pleased by the award along with the event’s festive offerings, added, “Sorry I slept in and missed my own screening. This festival has been tons of fun.”
Coda was produced...
- 6/24/2014
- ScreenDaily
The Wind That Shakes the Barley
Directed by Ken Loach
Screenplay by Paul Laverty
Ireland, 2006
More commonly associated with hard hitting, often brutal kitchen sink drama and gritty small scale drama, Ken Loach’s film repertoire has earned him a critically acclaimed niche in cinema’s fickle hall of fame. Ever since Kes, his name has been synonymous with working class misery occasionally tempered by strains of gallows humor, always respected but often silently shunned due to his often uncomfortable levels of authenticity. It’s something of a surprise then that his most successful effort is a million miles away from shabby council flats, and instead is the Nuneaton born auteur’s take on the sweeping epic.
The Wind That Shakes the Barley proves to be the perfect adventure for Loach, a narratively huge fable with decidedly small and modest themes, a fundamentally modest conflict between two brothers set amidst...
Directed by Ken Loach
Screenplay by Paul Laverty
Ireland, 2006
More commonly associated with hard hitting, often brutal kitchen sink drama and gritty small scale drama, Ken Loach’s film repertoire has earned him a critically acclaimed niche in cinema’s fickle hall of fame. Ever since Kes, his name has been synonymous with working class misery occasionally tempered by strains of gallows humor, always respected but often silently shunned due to his often uncomfortable levels of authenticity. It’s something of a surprise then that his most successful effort is a million miles away from shabby council flats, and instead is the Nuneaton born auteur’s take on the sweeping epic.
The Wind That Shakes the Barley proves to be the perfect adventure for Loach, a narratively huge fable with decidedly small and modest themes, a fundamentally modest conflict between two brothers set amidst...
- 10/22/2012
- by Scott Patterson
- SoundOnSight
At the first look, The Wind That Shakes the Barley might seem hard to appreciate because of its one-sided depiction of the events we see in the film. However, on a second thought, Ken Loach's gem manages to use that one-sidedness to its advantage in order to give to itself some depth. All in all, this is not your usual historical drama.
During the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921), Damien O'Sullivan (Cillian Murphy), a doctor, leaves his reluctance aside and decides to join the Irish Republican Army (Ira). Like his brother, Teddy (Padraic Delaney), who's in charge of the Ira's local flying column in County Cork, Damien dreams of an Ireland free of British rule. At the end of the war, Ireland becomes an independent republic under the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
However, to Teddy's surprise, Damien and other people are against the treaty. In fact, since they want full independence from Great Britain,...
During the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921), Damien O'Sullivan (Cillian Murphy), a doctor, leaves his reluctance aside and decides to join the Irish Republican Army (Ira). Like his brother, Teddy (Padraic Delaney), who's in charge of the Ira's local flying column in County Cork, Damien dreams of an Ireland free of British rule. At the end of the war, Ireland becomes an independent republic under the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
However, to Teddy's surprise, Damien and other people are against the treaty. In fact, since they want full independence from Great Britain,...
- 8/29/2009
- by noreply@blogger.com (Anh Khoi Do)
- The Cultural Post
A new two part special of Rte's 2005 hit drama, 'Pure Mule', has started shooting in-and-around Birr Co. Offaly. Produced by Accomplice Television 'Pure Mule: The Last Weekend' will come to our screens this autumn. 'Pure Mule' is written by Eugene O'Brien, directed by Declan Recks, produced by David Collins, Peter Norris and exec produced by Ed Guiney. Featuring a cast of Irish actors including Charlene Mc Kenna (Raw, Whistleblower), Garrett Lombard (Rough Diamond, Love Is A Drug), Dawn Bradfield (The Clinic), Gail Fitzpatrick (Strength and Honour), Orla Fitzgerald (The Wind that Shakes the Barley), Liam Carney (Speed Dating) and many more besides, the original series gained critical and commercial success when the final episode of the first series culminated with an audience of 437,000. New faces joining the cast will be J.J Feild (Blood The Last Vampire, Goal) and Diarmuid Noynes (Five Minutes of Heaven, Prosperity)...
- 7/2/2009
- IFTN
CANNES -- A Ken Loach film about the British in Ireland always has the potential for controversy, but his historical drama The Wind That Shakes the Barley is unlikely to inflame passions on either side.
Atmospheric but pedestrian, it is a retelling of the classic tragedy of all civil wars, from the U.S. to Vietnam to England, where brother is pitched against brother.
The film looks handsomely authentic, and the familiar characters are engaging, but the story is predictable and the Irish accents are so thick that even English subtitles are required. Loach's humanity is always in evidence, however, and the lack of histrionics will please many, so the film's conventionality could help make it accessible to general audiences.
The British in the film are nameless cardboard villains used mainly to establish just how horribly occupying forces behave. It's such a common device to make audiences root for the rebels that Loach and screenwriter Paul Laverty might have been cleverer about it. But it works, and Damien O'Sullivan (Cillian Murphy), who in 1920 is about to leave his Irish village to become a doctor in London, has his fate sealed by two incidents of British brutality that make it impossible for him to leave.
After centuries of domination, the Irish have voted for independence and so the British send in ruthless military squads, known as the Black and Tans, to intimidate the population. Mostly survivors of World War I trench fighting, the soldiers have been brutalized themselves, a point Loach allows to be made.
Damien's brother Teddy (Padraic Delaney) is a man of action, and he's devoted to the cause of Irish freedom. Led from afar by the political faction that became the Irish Republican Army, Teddy leads a group of village boys and men who call themselves a "flying column."
Training as guerilla fighters with pieces of wood shaped like rifles, the column spends most of its time trying to steal weapons. These raids bring reprisals that hit not only the rebels but also their womenfolk. Damien's sweetheart, Sinead (Orla Fitzgerald), has her hair crudely and bloodily sheared in one assault.
The story follows the group through the truce that was declared in 1921 and the Anglo-Irish Treaty signed in 1922 that created the Irish Free State out of 26 counties, with six other counties forming what became Northern Ireland remaining as part of the U.K.
As with all rulers that strive to divide the conquered, the British make sure the Irish Free State remains a part of its empire and require an oath of loyalty to the king. Those who view the treaty as a path to peace, like Teddy, don the British uniform. Those who insist that freedom will only come with complete republicanism, like Damien, continue the fight. Their tragedy becomes inevitable.
Loach provides plenty of time for arguments on all sides of the political issue, and while that is important, those scenes slow down the film badly. He stages the many action sequences with assurance, however, and draws persuasive performances from his cast.
With his poet's cheekbones and blue eyes, Murphy makes a fine romantic hero, and Delaney is a match as his duty-bound brother. Liam Cunningham, too, stands out as a thoughtful train driver-turned-rebel. Contributions from cinematographer Barry Ackroyd, production designer Fergus Clegg and composer George Fenton are all first-rate.
THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY
Sixteen Films, Matador Pictures, Regent Capital
Credits:
Director: Ken Loach
Screenwriter: Paul Laverty
Producer: Rebecca O'Brien
Executive producers: Ulrich Felsberg, Andrew Lowe, Nigel Thomas, Paul Trijbits
Director of photography: Barry Ackroyd
Production designer: Fergus Clegg
Editor: Jonathan Morris
Composer: George Fenton
Cast:
Damien: Cillian Murphy
Teddy: Padraic Delaney
Dan: Liam Cunningham
Sinead: Orla Fitzgerald
Peggy: Mary Riordan
Bernadette: Mary Murphy
Micheail: Laurence Barry
Finbar: Damien Kearney
Leo: Frank Bourke
Rory: Myles Horgan
Chris: John Crean
Sir John Hamilton: Roger Allam
Priest: Denis Conway...
Atmospheric but pedestrian, it is a retelling of the classic tragedy of all civil wars, from the U.S. to Vietnam to England, where brother is pitched against brother.
The film looks handsomely authentic, and the familiar characters are engaging, but the story is predictable and the Irish accents are so thick that even English subtitles are required. Loach's humanity is always in evidence, however, and the lack of histrionics will please many, so the film's conventionality could help make it accessible to general audiences.
The British in the film are nameless cardboard villains used mainly to establish just how horribly occupying forces behave. It's such a common device to make audiences root for the rebels that Loach and screenwriter Paul Laverty might have been cleverer about it. But it works, and Damien O'Sullivan (Cillian Murphy), who in 1920 is about to leave his Irish village to become a doctor in London, has his fate sealed by two incidents of British brutality that make it impossible for him to leave.
After centuries of domination, the Irish have voted for independence and so the British send in ruthless military squads, known as the Black and Tans, to intimidate the population. Mostly survivors of World War I trench fighting, the soldiers have been brutalized themselves, a point Loach allows to be made.
Damien's brother Teddy (Padraic Delaney) is a man of action, and he's devoted to the cause of Irish freedom. Led from afar by the political faction that became the Irish Republican Army, Teddy leads a group of village boys and men who call themselves a "flying column."
Training as guerilla fighters with pieces of wood shaped like rifles, the column spends most of its time trying to steal weapons. These raids bring reprisals that hit not only the rebels but also their womenfolk. Damien's sweetheart, Sinead (Orla Fitzgerald), has her hair crudely and bloodily sheared in one assault.
The story follows the group through the truce that was declared in 1921 and the Anglo-Irish Treaty signed in 1922 that created the Irish Free State out of 26 counties, with six other counties forming what became Northern Ireland remaining as part of the U.K.
As with all rulers that strive to divide the conquered, the British make sure the Irish Free State remains a part of its empire and require an oath of loyalty to the king. Those who view the treaty as a path to peace, like Teddy, don the British uniform. Those who insist that freedom will only come with complete republicanism, like Damien, continue the fight. Their tragedy becomes inevitable.
Loach provides plenty of time for arguments on all sides of the political issue, and while that is important, those scenes slow down the film badly. He stages the many action sequences with assurance, however, and draws persuasive performances from his cast.
With his poet's cheekbones and blue eyes, Murphy makes a fine romantic hero, and Delaney is a match as his duty-bound brother. Liam Cunningham, too, stands out as a thoughtful train driver-turned-rebel. Contributions from cinematographer Barry Ackroyd, production designer Fergus Clegg and composer George Fenton are all first-rate.
THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY
Sixteen Films, Matador Pictures, Regent Capital
Credits:
Director: Ken Loach
Screenwriter: Paul Laverty
Producer: Rebecca O'Brien
Executive producers: Ulrich Felsberg, Andrew Lowe, Nigel Thomas, Paul Trijbits
Director of photography: Barry Ackroyd
Production designer: Fergus Clegg
Editor: Jonathan Morris
Composer: George Fenton
Cast:
Damien: Cillian Murphy
Teddy: Padraic Delaney
Dan: Liam Cunningham
Sinead: Orla Fitzgerald
Peggy: Mary Riordan
Bernadette: Mary Murphy
Micheail: Laurence Barry
Finbar: Damien Kearney
Leo: Frank Bourke
Rory: Myles Horgan
Chris: John Crean
Sir John Hamilton: Roger Allam
Priest: Denis Conway...
- 5/19/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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