Two Thumbs Up. Big Toes Too.

The award winning film The Wind That Shakes The Barley, starring Kansas City Irish Fest homeboy and distinguished Corkonian Máirtín de Cógáin will have it's American premiere on March 14th, coincidentally (I'm sure) just in time for the nation's spotlight to turn to all things Irish. Of course, a film opening in New York on March 14th will probably open in Kansas City about August 14th.

Of 2009.

But I'll let you in on a little secret. I've seen it. Don't ask me how, because I can't tell you. I will tell you this: that prize it won at Cannes was no fluke. This a powerful film.

Taking place beginning in 1920 and continuing into the Irish Civil War, the story revolves around the O'Donovan brothers, Teddy (Padraic Delaney) and Damien (Cillian Murphy). Teddy is a militant republican fighting for Irish independence. Brother Damien is a young doctor on his way to practice at a London hospital when he too is dragged into the struggle. Your man Máirtín plays Séan, a young (and beardless) Irish soldier. British director Ken Loach, through some unusual film making techniques (the actors portraying the rebels and those playing British soldiers were kept isolated from each other during filming, and Irish actors were often intentionally surprised by British "raids") keeps up a high level of tension and a remarkable realism in dialog and interplay between his actors. The cast, which includes actual British soldiers as well as Irish actors who lost grandfathers or great uncles to raids by the Black and Tans, is made up of unknowns and newcomers, with the exception of Murphy. And without exception, they're outstanding, Padraic Delaney in particular and none more so than Máirtín himself. If there's a criticism to be made about the film it's that he's not on screen more, fine looking fella that he is. He does get to sing a couple songs which become key points in the story.

Filmed in West Cork, the film is visually beautiful, occasionally graphically brutal, and heartbreakingly sad. It's also sure to be a bit of a history lesson to a lot of us who aren't as well educated in modern Irish history as we ought to be.

I hope you get a chance to see it soon, too. If there's any justice, it will be a massive hit in New York and L.A. and will open shortly after in theaters across the country shortly after. And if you see Máirtín while he's in town, shake his hand and congratulate him on being part of a great work of art. Ah sure, we knew him when he was a nobody...