Автор: Sara Stewart

Surprise Irish Indie Hit Winds Its Way to the U.S.

War is hell—except on-screen, where cinematic artistry can turn it into a morbid ballet of special effects.

Director Ken Loach wanted none of that.

"When we started, I think the assumption was that people would die in slow motion. And that bullets would strike in the front but that blood would, somehow, also spurt out from the front," says Loach, whose new movie, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, tells the little-known story of the 1920 Irish insurrection.

"What would actually happen," he continues, "is that the bullet would come out in back, and you wouldn't see much. It was a lot simpler to just do it as it actually is."

Loach's film is an unflinching look at the violence that ensued when ordinary Irish citizens formed guerilla armies to defend themselves from the brutality of British military squads.

You won't find any slow-mo blazes of glory here—Loach focuses on the ugly reality of old women roughed up by soldiers, boys shot at close range, and fingernails pulled out by pliers.

"It's really just the one nail," Loach assures The Post (after hearing we didn't have the stomach to watch that scene). "One nail pops out. [Actor Pádraic Delaney] did very well, didn't he? We had a choice, because they would also pull teeth out with pliers. But we thought, if you pull his teeth out, there'll be a lot of blood, and that becomes a distraction."

"And," adds star Cillian Murphy with a grin, "you can't ruin his pretty face."

Loach giggles. "He'd be gumming for the rest of the movie!"

Murphy will be the lone familiar face for American audiences, as he played the Scarecrow in Batman Begins and the seatmate from hell in Red Eye.

Loach's piece, though substantially lower-budget, is clearly a personal high point for the actor. "This is the biggest-grossing independent film ever in Ireland," says Murphy, who relished working with the staunchly anti-Hollywood director. "It's hugely liberating as an actor to be involved. It's entirely removed from most of the nonsense that surrounds filmmaking."

One of Loach's most unusual techniques is letting his actors take the material and run with it, even keeping the cameras rolling while they talk through mistakes.

"Sometimes when you're trying to say something, it's not particularly sexy or cool—it's just looking for words and trying to express what you believe," says Murphy. "People buy into that because it's real."

"People are not, necessarily, articulate," adds Loach. "A simple thing that's really dragged from somebody's effort to say it is much more touching than a well-modulated sentence that comes out easily. Because the effort to say it is what carries the weight."

A bunch of unknown Irish actors stumbling through their lines as they debate the merits of signing a treaty with the British government—sounds like a blockbuster.

"That's the great thing about being cheap!" says Loach. "There are no 'suits.' It's much more comfortable than having people descend on you and say, 'We don't want this boy to get shot.' Or, 'Can there be a happy ending?' "

When Loach is asked if he'd ever consider chucking his signature style to do a big mainstream movie, Murphy jumps in: "Mission: Impossible 4!" he proposes.

Loach laughs. "I don't think I'll get that invitation."