Today I was feeling strange. I don't know why. I don't even remember the last movie I saw... I think it was... hmmm... Directed by John Ford. I don't know why... too... why I'm taking long time between movies... but I do know that it has something to do with the crops. (o la siega, ou a colheita).
The wind that shakes the barley is a movie that called me. It called me before, on the "30a Mostra Internacional de Cinema" last year in São Paulo, but somehow I left it to see it later... Call me crazy, but this is how I treat movies. Books too. Not the left for later part, but the calling part. I need this supernatural conection with it.
So today I saw it...
I didn't knew what to expect. Never saw a Ken Loach movie before. I don't want to talk about the direction, nor the script, nor the damn photography. I don't think that we can separate these things in a movie... though is very normal that people do so. They didn't even read the script but "The Script is awesome"... come on. It would be like seeing a painting and say "Wow, the scratch is awesome". Now, if you say the story is good... it's another thing. So, I'll say about the film in its wholeness... its unity, its oneness and my feelings.
The movie is a Jewel. "Una joya" or "Uma preciosidade" how me and my south-american friends would say. It has a historical character, in the 1920's, during the british occupation in Ireland. It's centered in a small group (or cell) of the I.R.A. that lives in a small town. For me, its universal. The struggle, the selvagery, is like the Old Testament, there is no room for gentlemans, in this war is eye for an eye. You could place the same elements in a war of the old testament and
you'll see the same things, you'll know this is true. Violence generates Violence. The unneeded brute force that militaries do to citizens is just crazy, but the recall that is made 2 times (I think), that these british soldiers were in the first Great War made me think of the consequences of war in a human mind and soul. When the first time the film said this, I knew what to expect... but it's set with brilliancy and almost goes unnoticed, in a good sense. The madness of war is perfectly showed here, and yet it shows the strength of the human soul... in a snap. In a moment you have a half-irish kid in the british army dealing with guilt of killing irishes and sets them free... and then you have the person that was saved, killing a irish kid for treason... In another moment you have 3 women being beaten by british soldiers, and then when they leave, after the small group consolating them, a letter announcing truce, and everyone is happy... It's an avalanche of emotions... Rewinding and speaking of treason, isn't the soldier a traitor? He redeemed himself. The other doesn't have the same chance. And Damien (the main character) knows it.Every situation in this film is well placed for a repetition. A recall. Showing the same violence being done over and over again. And it's not obvious, but you can sense it. You can place it in Israel, Ireland or Irak. Violence knows no boundaries, it begins with British soldiers vs Irish people, then Irish soldiers vs Irish people, and finally, Brother against Brother. It's a good way of showing this nonsense... you believe that this is revealed step by step but no, since the beggining of the film it's brother killing brother. Human killing Human. There is no divisions or differences. We are dealing with Truth here. No one gets a chance of Life in a war, like Sinead would like to have... and in the end, very subtle, showing Sinead crying from the same point of view when the house got burned, from a impotent point of view, we know that this will repeat itself, as is repeating then.
The film approaches others subjects, themes, emotions and feelings... but I can't do it now... it's too fresh.
I won't put a score for it... never will. You can't put scores for experiences in life, but you can live them. I recommend the experience of seeing The wind that shakes the barley.
Jean Renoir com Julien Carette.
