stiglaidlaw Ken Loach does what he does best - give a dramatic cinematic experience, that combines his political worldview and historic accuracy into something that ticks all the boxes. As a socialist as well, it's especially brilliant to see the portrayal of the two currents out of the Irish Independence Movement - a labor-oriented, socialist, revolutionary current and the bourgeois nationalist movement. The "family feud" isn't really a family feud at all but a debate between these two currents. We can see the today the result of this battle.The scenery is beautiful, the costumes, and the brilliant acting performances only help create a more immersive story. There is depth in the characters, and the ability for them to be both opportunistic, principled and shift in their orientation to some of the main questions of the time. Ken Loach has done a brilliant job in creating a historical work of art - his realism in his films is picture perfect in this film and really sets the bar for any future films covering the Irish Independence Movement.

legobaseball Best comedy I've ever seen in my life. From beginning to end I was practically on the floor from laughing. Whether it was when the general was cursing at the men, or when the mother was sining an Irish song, or when that young boy was all up in that cows business ;). I will always think of this movie when deciding what to recommend as a real rib tickler! 5/7, a perfect score for this movie.

bjoern-37 I've read a few reviews about this film and more often than Not there was a debate as to whether it glorifies war and/or the I.R.A., if it should be more pro-British or pro-Irish, if the director is a traitor and so on...I think all these reviews miss the crucial point this movie tries to make - and IMHO delivers quite brilliantly: There are no winners in war, and this rule applies even more when it is a civil war!I really don't get how people can argue about the points mentioned above when the film culminates in a scene where a man has to order the execution of his own brother!?!One thing that bothers me about the IMDb is that users often do not differentiate when they cast their vote - these "binary" votes of either one or ten stars are pretty useless and in my opinion a movie has to be exceptionally well to deserve a rating of even eight stars - but if THIS ONE doesn't deserve the full load of ten stars, no one does!!!Watch this movie, invite friends over and be sure to recommend it to others: I can't imagine that anyone in his or her right mind will dislike it on the basis of ANY political agenda - viewers should be able to cope with something other than a happy ending, though...

Sindre Kaspersen English television and film director Ken Loach's nineteenth feature film which was written by Scottish screenwriter Paul Laverty, is inspired by real events which took place in Ireland in the early 20th century. It premiered In competition at the 59th Cannes International Film Festival in 2006, was screened in the Masters section at the 31st Toronto International Film Festival in 2006, was shot on location in County Cork, Ireland and is an Ireland-UK-Germany-Italy-Spain co-production which was produced by producer Rebecca O'Brien. It tells the story about an Irishman and anatomy student named Damien O'Donovan who is only days away from going to work as a doctor at a hospital in London, England. Most of the men Damien has grown up with including his brother named Teddy have had enough of the way they are being treated by the British troops who has occupied their country, and is gathering a small army to drive the Brits out of Ireland. Damien thinks that they stand little chance against the British troops, but when he is waiting for his ride to England at the train station after having said goodbye to his friends he witnesses the driver of the train and his co-workers being assaulted by a group of British soldiers and decides to return to his friends, where he swears allegiance to the government of the Irish Republic, Dáil Éireann and joins them in their war for their nation's independence.Distinctly and subtly directed by European filmmaker Ken Loach, this finely paced and somewhat fictional tale which is narrated from multiple viewpoints though mostly from the two main characters viewpoints, draws a heartrending and involving portrayal of an oppressed Irish community who after watching a 17-year-old man named Micheail O'Sullivan being killed for saying his name in Irish decides to take up the fight against the British army and forms an Irish Republican Army. While notable for it's naturalistic milieu depictions, fine cinematography by English cinematographer Barry Ackroyd, production design by production designer Fergus Clegg and costume design by Irish costume designer Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh, this narrative-driven story about nationalism, unionism, capitalism, imperialism and choosing what one is for and against, depicts two interrelated studies of character about two brothers and how their relationship and personalities are changed by a war, and contains a fine score by composer George Fenton.This political, historic, conversational and gently romantic period war drama from the late 2000s which is set in a county of Ireland during the interwar period and the Irish War of Independence in the early 1920s, and where Irish republicans are threatened with immediate and terrible war unless they ratify a peace treaty which all though providing them with a Free State within the British Empire asks them to swear an oath of allegiance to the British crown which many of them regards as going against the oath they swore to their fatherland during the last election in 1919, is impelled and reinforced by it's cogent narrative structure, substantial character development, efficient continuity, incisive political conversations, scenes between Damien and his girlfriend named Sinead and the gripping acting performances by Irish actors Cillian Murphy, Pádraic Delaney, Liam Cunningham and Irish actress Orla Fitzgerald. A lingering, modestly literary and reverent homage to the Republic of Ireland which gained, among numerous other awards, the Palme d'Or at the 59th Cannes Film Festival in 2006.