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Mixed news about Barley distribution in Europe

04 June 2006 at 10:45 PM | by Melty_Girl

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

As many of us continue to wonder about the North American release date for The Wind That Shakes the Barley, the politics of the film may be scaring off British cinemas. The Independent is reporting that even as the Palme d'Or win prompted orders for prints of Barley in Ireland and France to more than double, so far PathÈ has only received requests for roughly 30 UK theaters—a tenth of French orders for the film! Guy Adams writes:

[Director Ken] Loach attributes this astonishingly paltry figure to the British cinema industry's reservations about his film's tricky subject matter, and media criticism of its (allegedly) pro-IRA leanings.

...He criticised right-leaning writers who've been "creeping out from under their stones, slagging off a film they've not even seen. In the UK, it's hardly going to be shown. Our only hope is if everyone goes in the first week and the exhibitors see the demand."

A spokesman for the film said they've got until its 23 June release to drum-up further interest: "It's early days yet, so hopefully (Loach) is being premature."

Ominously, The Scotsman writes that Loach attributed the the problem to the fact "that British cinemas were 'in the pockets' of the big American film companies."