paul2001sw-1 Ken Loach's 'Land and Freedom' borrows heavily from Orwell's 'Homage to Catalonia' in telling us the story of the Spannish civil war. It's nicely executed, although, telling the story from a foreign perspective, it's relatively brief in its depiction of how the country fell into war. But it doesn't shy from exploring the "revolution or order" debates that ultimately split the Republican side (and which ended with the Stalinists settling the issue in blood on the side of order). There's less romanticism here than in some Loach movies and the film is better for it, but the structure is perhaps too simple, the hero's varying feelings for a woman serving as a stand in for his whole emotional involvement in what's happening around him. It's a good film, but it's less interesting than reading Orwell, who had the fortune (if that is the word) to be able to tell history without hindsight, and from experience first hand.

spratton The striking perspective in Ken Loach's films seems to be that the characters are just like us --- they are struggling to get clear and articulate their thoughts as they go along --- they haven't learned a smooth script. Ian Hart as Liverpudlian "Dave Carr" is marvellous; it could be you or me, on the ground right then and there, having to say something very important, and trying to convey it across another language. The reality of war and revolution, in which everyone has slightly different ideas, as opposed to being an absurdly 'unified' body, is starkly presented.I could have done without the sexism and swear words, though I've no doubt they were there too, especially among insecure men in macho roles.The "household debate" in the evicted landowner's house, is a marvel. I haven't read up the screenplay, but any viewer would swear that fifteen people were shoved (gently!) into that room and told to "debate it", with no guidance and no script --- but of course that's what all Loach films look like.Powerful; and the almost wordless granddaughter in Liverpool, appearing at the start and the end of the film --- Suzanne Maddock, is absolutely convincing: on the surface uninformed, but at the very end (I did tag the spoiler), her brief salute at the graveside bowled me over ---- powerful unexpected stuff.

alfa-16 I also love this film.It's a wonderful, intense, realistic and insightful look at the Spanish Civil War with the highly naturalistic cinematography and committed performances characteristic of Loach.The reviews and debate concentrate on the action in Spain, which, for me, is only half the story that Loach is telling. I grew up in Liverpool in the 50's and 60's and knew quite a few David Carrs. Men then in their own fifties and sixties, often alone, keeping themselves to themselves in quiet corners of pubs and working men's clubs. They never told their own stories, never wanted credit, never wanted to relive their experiences in the Battle of the Atlantic, on the Baltic convoys, in North Africa. Someone who knew them would sometimes say "he was torpedoed four times" or "he was two years in Spain fighting Franco" and that would be that.So I am delighted that David Carr, played by the incomparable Ian Hart, and this movie is such a fabulous testament to all of them. I love the way his life expands onto the screen, from the small remainder in a Liverpool council flat, from the letters uncovered by his death, into the light and air of Spain, enabling us to share in his buried idealism, its betrayal, then to witness the love of his life and the loss of it. Incredibly beautiful and truly heartbreaking. Unsuspected by all but his best mates and his newly enlightened granddaughter, David is surely off to Valhalla to be reunited with Blanca and his warrior friends of the past. I cannot think of anything in film so unsentimental yet so poignantly moving as her last salute.This isn't Don Quixote, though. Nor is it Orwell, who is magnificent in an entirely different way, nor is it Hemingway's brash heroism or Saving Private Ryan's gung-ho bullet-for-bullet style of "historical verisimilitude". It doesn't matter at all whether the events are being portrayed with strict accuracy or not. This is the authentic texture of twentieth century history in perfect context, portrayed through the lens of one man's experience.And there is hardly anything else like it on film.A true masterpiece of the art which deserves a much bigger reputation and a place in the British Movie Pantheon alongside the very best.

membrillon Just a great film, it gives a glance of how horrifying and absurd a civil war can be, any war is it, but a civil one is absolutely worst, neighbors, friends and relatives fighting each other not only with bullets but also with words, secrets, confidences and more. Loach shows how big he can be as director, he give us a very complete film, quite historic, funny, but above all, a story of just people trying to live a normal life in abnormal circumstances. The film shows a very good casting playing great characters, Ian Hart and Rosana Pastor (as Blanca) are both in their best works. If you like to see good war films, not only spectacular high budgeted epic sagas (I like them too), Land and freedom is a must see film.