All Critics (114)
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Top Critics (27)
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Fresh (104)
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Rotten (13)
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DVD (10)
Gripping, powerful, heart-breaking.
Raises hard questions about Ireland's uncanny ability to kneecap itself.
[Loach] has made an often handsome, always sobering movie that does what the best movies do: leave us a whole lot less sure about what we ought to think.
[Loach is] the master of the docu-drama or the realist social film, and Wind is one of his masterpieces.
As frequently happens in both Loach films and history, the betrayal of ideals, socialist and otherwise, leaves a harsh aftertaste, which made me feel sadder but not much wiser.
The Wind That Shakes the Barley isn't interested in being a straightforward or romanticized history lesson. Rather, [director] Loach offers an examination of the very nature of rebellion, as filtered through the particulars of the Irish troubles.
The film's stark outrage exposes the pussyfooting that these days passes for 'political'
Pickings must have been pretty slim at Cannes last year because Barley isn't much of a standout piece.
Loach delivers a moving and often beautiful story that captures the essence of the conflict, with all its unintended consequences and personal tragedies.
IRA drama is thoughtful, smart -- and bloody.
Loach is on fire here. A masterfully executed mix of politics and passion, this is an example of that increasingly rare beast in modern cinema: a serious, thought-provoking film for grown-ups.
Gripping old-fashioned political drama.
A brutal film...deeply moving yet painful to watch.
Ultimately, the politics outweigh the poetry ... but it succeeds despite its hesitations and far-reaching ambition
Not merely a cinematic masterpiece from start to finish but a righteous rallying cry for disenfranchised masses anywhere with nothing left to lose but their chains.
All sides of this debate may be unhappy with what's up on the screen as Loach goes to extremes to show the good and bad of everyone concerned, even though the British occupiers bear the brunt of his cinematic lash here.
Laverty's screenplay is not a simple-minded exercise, although there is a schematic aspect to it. He and Loach want to be fair to both sides of the Irish debate ...
A film that shows the slow push for freedom as the sticky, messy and lengthy process it really is.
the intensity of Murphy and Delaney's performances is shattering... 'Wind' never loses sight of the fact that sometimes a victim's wounds may be invisible to the eye, but every bit as painful as a stabbing...
There are moments that stir, and it's always lovely, but it's generally too remote to gain hold of you truly.
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