This is an interesting little film starring Ian Hart as an Englishman, David Carr, from Liverpool who goes to Spain to fight on the socialist/communist side during the Spanish Civil War.
You know it's a Ken Loach film right from the start when you see the typical bleak urban landscapes of modern Britain council tower blocks, ugly roads and traffic as David Carr dies in the ambulance on the way to the hospital leaving behind a vast collection of letters, photographs, newspaper cuttings and mementoes from his time in the conflict fifty years before.
Every seemingly old, boring person may have led a fascinating and remarkable life; his grand-daughter trawls through this personal time-capsule and the generation gap is no more.
The depiction of the civil war itself is beautifully and painstakingly recreated with authentic uniforms (or lack of), rustic farmhouses serving as HQs and plenty of bandit/partisan-style shoot-outs, presumably the essential nature of the conflict in its early stages (before the International Brigades took over). In some ways it is like a prelude to the 1960s, with free love, communal living and an easy-going lifestyle prevailing.
Rosana Pastor is beautiful as Blanca, a young, idealistic yet romantic firebrand serving as the love interest for David Carr. It's not really necessary for the plot and a bit un-Ken Loach. Nevertheless, she is worth it! There are also some fine scenes of grass-roots democracy in action, with the revolutionaries debating and voting on a number of issues, such as collectivisation of farming and whether or not to throw their lot in with the regular Popular Army. They discuss the impact of Hitler and Stalin on the conflict and the nature of capitalism and the international workers' struggle. The participants comprise Spanish, English, Americans and a few others and they all worry about their struggle becoming corrupted.
Ian Hart puts in a thorough, impressive performance, even suppressing that awful Liverpool accent to display quite some skill in the Spanish language. However, all of the swearing is ludicrous, probably anachronistic and completely unnecessary: did people really exchange insults in 1936 involving 'ass'? Does it improve the film? I would like to see Land and Freedom based on the life of George Orwell and perhaps a greater, less idealistic political exploration of the circumstances and events of the Spanish Civil War. Orwell is the man.
You know it's a Ken Loach film right from the start when you see the typical bleak urban landscapes of modern Britain council tower blocks, ugly roads and traffic as David Carr dies in the ambulance on the way to the hospital leaving behind a vast collection of letters, photographs, newspaper cuttings and mementoes from his time in the conflict fifty years before.
Every seemingly old, boring person may have led a fascinating and remarkable life; his grand-daughter trawls through this personal time-capsule and the generation gap is no more.
The depiction of the civil war itself is beautifully and painstakingly recreated with authentic uniforms (or lack of), rustic farmhouses serving as HQs and plenty of bandit/partisan-style shoot-outs, presumably the essential nature of the conflict in its early stages (before the International Brigades took over). In some ways it is like a prelude to the 1960s, with free love, communal living and an easy-going lifestyle prevailing.
Rosana Pastor is beautiful as Blanca, a young, idealistic yet romantic firebrand serving as the love interest for David Carr. It's not really necessary for the plot and a bit un-Ken Loach. Nevertheless, she is worth it! There are also some fine scenes of grass-roots democracy in action, with the revolutionaries debating and voting on a number of issues, such as collectivisation of farming and whether or not to throw their lot in with the regular Popular Army. They discuss the impact of Hitler and Stalin on the conflict and the nature of capitalism and the international workers' struggle. The participants comprise Spanish, English, Americans and a few others and they all worry about their struggle becoming corrupted.
Ian Hart puts in a thorough, impressive performance, even suppressing that awful Liverpool accent to display quite some skill in the Spanish language. However, all of the swearing is ludicrous, probably anachronistic and completely unnecessary: did people really exchange insults in 1936 involving 'ass'? Does it improve the film? I would like to see Land and Freedom based on the life of George Orwell and perhaps a greater, less idealistic political exploration of the circumstances and events of the Spanish Civil War. Orwell is the man.