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More praise, more controversy for Cillian and Barley

01 June 2006 at 10:17 PM | by Melty_Girl

[Note: This was originally published by cillianONLINE, which has been inactive since September 2006.]

Despite the North American release date being TBD, the Entertainment Weekly blog popWATCH directs readers to the The Wind That Shakes the Barley trailer and another "terrific" turn from Cillian. Entertainment.ie rates Barley 4 out of 5 stars and has high praise for Cillian:

Murphy hit the big time last year as Patrick "Kitten" Braden in Neil Jordan's Breakfast On Pluto which is (dare it be said) the nearest metamorphosis of actor and character since Robert De Niro and Jake La Motta. Here, Murphy shows that that role was no fluke and he is flawless as the reluctant and torn Damien.

There are more high marks for Cillian and new details about the film in Channel 4's review, which comments,

Despite Loach's reputation for political didacticism, in truth he usually cuts a more ambiguous path. He even spares a thought for the British soldiers—painting them as shell-shocked veterans of the Great War who are just as much victims of British imperialism as the Irish.

Meanwhile, the BBC describes the public debate between English papers and Ken Loach over accusations of Barley being anti-British, The Guardian muses on the meaning of Loach's victorious raised fist, and if you're looking to learn more about this director before seeing Barley, The Independent offers a handy Loach primer.