A Cannes of Worms

Some of his films have been excellent.  Kes, back in 1970, put my local town of Barnsley on the map and I recently visited the area to have a look at some of the locations used in the film.  More recently the Scottish gritty drama, Sweet Sixteen, looked at the perils of involvement with gangland undesirables in Greenock.  However, when it comes to portrayals of the situation in Northern Ireland, Ken Loach is a man who seems to hold the classic execrable line of 'Micks good, Brits bad.'  I have not watched, and will not watch, the insanely slanted Hidden Agenda film Loach made back in 1990.  In equal measure I shall not be indulging the sick fantasies of the Left in tandem with their icons in Irish republicanism by patronising his latest celluloidal sickbucket, The Wind That Shakes The Barley.  As far as I'm concerned, the only things that should be shaken are the necks of those who give implicit support to the legacy that is the bodies of 2,000 victims of republican terror in graveyards across the United Kingdom.

Loach's production is set to win the day at Cannes.  So what?  Any film which shows the British in general, and the English in particular, in a negative light always salivates the emotions of the Luvvies who gather to watch rubbish such as this.  Will Loach ever commit himself to doing a film about the Claudy massacre?  Or La Mon, or Warrenpoint, or Tullyvallen, or Bloody Friday, or Shankill, or Enniskillen, or Kingsmill???????  Oh I forgot.  Lefty Luvvies are not interested in the lives and deaths of the genuinely innocent.  They might get in the way of their perverted historical fantasies.  Bums on seats for bums on the big screen.  How appropriate!!!

Comments

[smcgiff]

What has the IRISH (there's a clue there somewhere) Civil war got to do with 'Micks good/Brits bad'?

BTW, part of the movie was shot very near my own home in the conurbation that is Buttevant, Co. Cork.

[Cunningham]

So much for your contention just a few weeks ago that continentals know nothing and care less about the Republican struggle.

I saw "Michael Collins" in Venice and "The Devil's Own" in Ljubljana (with Brad Pitt as a rather dashing IRA gunman, you would have loved it). Both were sell-outs.
It seem people the world over have an insatiable appetite for it!

Now why doesnt someone do something like that on the Orange Order?
David, your call?

[Andrew McCann]

Smcgiff

It romanticises an event which created the legacy of IRA terrorism (there's more than a clue in that somewhere).

Cunningham

So a few scumbags at the cinema equals the total collective opinions of the entire European continent, does it?

[smcgiff]

'It romanticises an event which created the legacy of IRA terrorism (there's more than a clue in that somewhere).'

Er, the free staters won, and unless the picture goes into assume Hitler won the war scenario how is this a problem. How do you know what or whom it romanticises or even if there is any romaticisation if you've not seen it. You're not paranoid are you, at all, at all, at all?

Have you ever watched a movie of the English civil war? War is bad full stop.

[Andrew McCann]

'Er, the free staters won...'

So? What's your point? The hateful legacy of the way in which Irish independence was achieved was about far more than a short-lived conflict.

I've seen movies about the English Civil War and the American Civil War. But being as they have no relevance to what happened in Oireland, I again fail to see your 'point'.

STOP PRESS: A Left-wing film director who was one alleged to have been a member of the Troops Out Movement makes a film sympathetic to a British and/or Unionist viewpoint.

What a load of cobblers you talk!!

[NRG]

Andrew, you may have leapt before you looked on this occasion.

Irish Nationalism has always sought to revise the Irish Civil War out of the history books as it raises all sorts of uncomfortable issues about the brutality and thuggery of Irish man against Irish man (that arguably exceeds any wrongs committed by British in the period), the true level of support for the 1916 up-rising, support for partician and family feuds that live on to today.

Maybe there will be a gloss, but this film may be a step forward towards the truth.

[Madradin Ruad]

Could any honest educated person deny that the vicious and savage cruelty seen in what is mis-named the Irish civil War would have been directed at the Northern protestants and those Roman Catholics who had to flee the Free State if it had not been for partition?

Knocknagoshel?
Countess Bridge?
Ballyseedy?
Caherciveen?

Nice people - let's celebrate them.....

[smcgiff]

'Andrew, you may have leapt before you looked on this occasion.'

Kneejerk more like. A bit like the way you see the portrayal of 'Micks good/Brits bad' you see something on Ireland and it's automatically Ireland = Bad and oppressive to unionism.

Careful, Andrew, you're at risk of becoming a caricature.

[smcgiff]

'Nice people - let's celebrate them.....'

MR, looks like my caricature warning needs to be extend to you.

[Madradin Ruad]

Seamus - was trying to take the heat off Andrew ;)

[smcgiff]

'Seamus - was trying to take the heat off Andrew ;)'

Very noble, MR!
:)

[Colm]

Surely there is nothing wrong with making a film about any historic event. Or should some events be airbrushed from history?

[Northern Sole]

"should some events be airbrushed from history? "

There was a drama on tv in the last couple of days about the moors murderers which I believe the families of the victims were opposed to. Out of principle I didn't watch it. You obviously can't airbrush events like this from history as the victims should be remembered, but I believe that sensationalising such painful happenings like this is sick and insulting to the families involved.

A film about the Irish Civil war is different though as it deals with wider historical events, so characters within can be fictionalised and no direct reference needs to be made to real people - in any case it's fairly safe to assume that almost all protagonists involved are now dead.

I do admire Loach's work and look forward to seeing this film when it comes out.

[Madradin Ruad]

colm - history is contested.

[Hugh Green]

Ken Loach is a man who seems to hold the classic execrable line of 'Micks good, Brits bad.'

What would you think of someone who held the classic execrable line of 'Brits good, Micks bad.'?

[Andrew McCann]

'What would you think of someone who held the classic execrable line of 'Brits good, Micks bad.'?

Depends upon the degree of their accuracy.

[Michael Turley]

Anybody interested in a largely anecdotal account of the Irish Civil war should read Frank O'Connors account of the period which includes a fascinating portrayal of Erskine Childers - an Englishman shot for his role in as an anti-Treaty soldier whose son went on to be President of the Republic of Ireland.

Looking forward to the film. I hope Andrew and friends enjoy it too.

[Garibaldy]

My favourite thing relevant to Ken Loach was what somebody said about his Spanish Civil War film, Land and Freedom. 'Like doing a film about Nortern Ireland from the point of view of the IPLO'

By the way Andrew, when accusing people of being one-sided, you might not want to talk about innocent victims and then mention only those killed by nationalists. It leaves you open to the same accusation

[jaun]

it is a measure of the sinister hypocrisy of the republicans that they must depend on fiction to articulate their suffering. shankill men in ss uniforls ring any bells ?

[GrassyNoel]

Those who are of a Unionist persuasion may just want to calm down a bit and consider this: For most of the 18th and 19th Century, and for most of the first half of the 20th, Great Britain was the most powerful nation in the world, seemingly hell-bent on conquering as many other nations as it possibly could, all in the name of expanding the empire for the glory (not to meantion bank balance) of its Royals. In the process, many indigenous peoples were, ahem, shall we say 'mistreated', and hence, there are many people around the world who feel somewhat aggrieved at the treatment their ancestors received at the hands of power-hungry imperialist fascists. I know, I know, it's terribly unfair.

You may also note that a very common theme in cinematic storytelling, and this is unlikely to change very much at any time in the near future, is the ultimate triumph of the underdog in the face of seemingly overwhelming adversity and against seemingly insurmountable odds, hence the popularity of films in which the 'plucky natives' give the 'nasty Brits' a bit of 'what for'. Go figure!

But hey, don't worry people..it's just a film.

[Reg]

What the hell? What has the Civil War got to do with the northern question and unionists? Yet another example of hardline unionism's amazing ability to connect everything and anything to their terrible tale of woe.

Even a cursory glance at the Treaty debates would show that the Civil War had nothing to do with the north. It was between idealists/inflexible hardliners v pragmatists/traitors (delete as appropriate) over the extent to which freedom for the 26 counties could be wrestled from the intransigent British Govt.

It was terribly sad but makes a great oul story. Enough said.

[Madradin Ruad]

ROFL - which nations was the United Kingdom* trying to conquer to expand it's empire in the first Half of the 20th century ?

* Let's not forget that the people of Ireland were enthusiastic participants in Empire building matey :)

[Madradin Ruad]

Reg - the main use of the Irish Civil War to the Unionist cause was that it shows that partition was justified.

[Cunningham]

>>ROFL - which nations was the United Kingdom* trying to conquer to expand it's empire in the first Half of the 20th century<<

Britain continued to gain possessions and colonies by war and conquest, treaty and deceit well into the 20th Century.

The last ROFL is on GrassyNoel.

[Madradin Ruad]

Britain continued to gain possessions and colonies by war and conquest, treaty and deceit well into the 20th Century.

Can we have the names of these nations the United Kingdom was trying to conquer in the 1930s, 40s and 50s ? ;)