Parents' Guide to The Wind That Shakes the Barley

Director Ken Loach's THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY tells the story of two Irish brothers caught up in the beginnings of the IRA (Irish Republican Army). Medical student Damien (Cillian Murphy) and his brother Teddy (Padraic Delaney) watch in horror as British soldiers beat to death a friend who refuses to say his name in English instead of Gaelic. Damien abandons his studies, instead taking the Irish Republican Army's oath of loyalty. The film follows the young men's diligent training, heated discussions, and acts of violence, as well as their capture by the British forces. Damien, the most reluctant warrior, executes two informants; the ordeal leaves him scarred and angry -- he hates what he's become even though he believes in the cause of the Irish Free State. When he and his fellows begin to argue over tactics -- some believe their internal system of government too closely resembles the British one -- the group begins to fragment. The December 1921 signing of the Anglo-Irish peace treaty (which maintained Ireland as a dominion of the British Empire) breaks them apart completely. Teddy aligns himself with Michael Collins and the Loyalists (now "armed and uniformed by the British state") and Damien continues to fight. Ultimately, their split -- like that of their country -- leads to tragedy for both.