Автор: Hannah Guy
From fighting zombies in 28 Days Later... to portraying the spine-chilling Scarecrow in Batman Begins, versatile Irish actor Cillian Murphy has proven his range. This month, Murphy gets much closer to home in The Wind That Shakes the Barley, director Ken Loach's sobering and taut snapshot of the old IRA in the early 20th century that looks at how two brothers took up arms against the occupying English.
You've mentioned that your family has been affected by some of the troubles with the Black and Tans (English troops occupying Ireland). How did this film touch on that part of your family history?
Cillian Murphy: It did make me think about how extraordinary these people were. Many of the [characters] in this film—like, I was 29 when I made the movie—were people who were 19, 20, 21 ... they were these incredibly passionate and committed people. Teetotalers and incredibly devout Catholics, incredibly extraordinary people who would have given up their lives. They never had military training or anything like that, and who effectively put the British army on its knees. Not all of them are extraordinary, noble people, obviously, but there was an element of that. It made me think about actors, people who live a charmed life, you know?
Why was the Toronto International Film Festival a good place for the North American launch of the film?
Probably Canadians would be more open to taking some of the political—how do I put this?—you guys would have a slightly more [pauses carefully] balanced view of what's going on in the world than some of your neighbours do.
Are you still being hassled about accusations that you hate the British?
I guess that was just to be expected from [British] publications, those commentators. Well, people read things and ask you about them, and you go, "Well, yes, but ..." And then you explain why the film isn't any of those things. And it's weird, because some of the papers and some of the publications that contain some of that are film critics, and they give the film great reviews. So it's kind of ironic.
How have your friends and family back home responded to the film?
It's been phenomenal in Ireland, understandably. It's broken records and all that. It was only two generations ago that ... it runs very deep at home. But people are very taken with it, and I think that's very encouraging. It's not a simplistic thing, and I love that ... I haven't been home since, but I've heard very great things. Not that I don't want to go home! [laughs] I just haven't had the opportunity to go home.
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