The Wind that Shakes The Barley.

I went to see The Wind that Shakes the Barley tonight , after several abortive attempts, too tedious to detail, but which mostly involved the cinema being too small or my social circle too complicated. Mostly, I liked it, though it has Loach's tendency to propagandise (although as usual he's on the right side) leavened with his compelling cinematic sweep. I loved it, really, reservations about cliches aside ( the cliches are in this case cliches because that's what happened). 

The most gripping scene wasn't the much vaunted flying column appearing out of the mist, but the argument, post-Treaty, about who was right. It got the problems with wars and armies and orders perfectly and in a pair of scenes contrasted the willingness of the main protaganist and a young British soldier to obey orders, no matter what and in that conveyed the inhumanity of armies and hierarchies with guns. This, I thought, whilst I watched it, is why I am a pacificist: despite all the provocation, endorsing the notion of a just war leads you to the shooting of a youngster in the head. What starts out as a noble cause ends up in ignominy and blood.