Land and Freedom (1995)

Director:

Ken Loach

Writer:

Jim Allen (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 March 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

Spring 1936, a young unemployed communist, David, leaves his hometown Liverpool to join the fight against fascism in Spain...

Plot Keywords:

Spanish Civil War | Anarchy | Anti Clericalism | Civil War | Political

Awards:

8 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Ian Hart	...	David Carr
Rosana Pastor	...	Blanca
Icíar Bollaín	...	Maite (as Iciar Bollain)
Tom Gilroy	...	Lawrence
Marc Martínez	...	Juan Vidal (as Marc Martinez)
Frédéric Pierrot	...	Bernard Goujon (as Frederic Pierrot)
Andrés Aladren	...	Militia member (as Andres Aladren)
Sergi Calleja	...	Militia member
Raffaele Cantatore	...	Militia member
Pascal Demolon	...	Militia member
Paul Laverty	...	Militia member
Josep Magem	...	Militia member
Eoin McCarthy	...	Connor
Jurgen Muller	...	Militia member (as Jürgen Müller)
Víctor Roca	...	Militia member (as Roca)

Also Known As:

Terra e libertà (Italy)
Tierra y libertad (Spain)

Runtime:

109 min | Spain:104 min

Country:

UK | Spain | Germany | Italy

Language:

English | Spanish | Catalan

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Germany:12 | Netherlands:12 | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK

Company:

BIM

Quotes:

David: Revolutions are contagious.

Movie Connections:

Edited from Caudillo (1977)

Soundtrack:

A Las Barricades

Very, very accurate portrayal of one of the many facets of the Spanish Civil War.

Applause for Mr. Loach. As a person who is majorly into history (Spanish and Irish in particular), I loved seeing this film for the first time, and that was hundreds of times ago. This movie is about a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, played brilliantly by Ian Hart (who is also in "Michael Collins", another favorite of mine) who goes to Spain in 1936 to fight in the Spanish Civil War. He is persuaded to join the Partido Obrero de Unificacion Marxista, or POUM. This was a militia dedicated to world revolution, not to socialism in one country. The film very accurately portrays the beginning of the war, when it was clear cut who was on which side. And it keeps with its accuracy in showing how Joseph Stalin manipulated the country of Spain for his own needs, eventually using his influence there to end the life of Leon Trotsky. "Land and Freedom" also shows the May days in Barcelona, when 500 people were killed in a mini civil war within the forces of the anti-fascist Republic. This film is amazing, both in its ability to show how personal the conflict was for many people and how it was not a clear cut good guy bad guy war after 1936. I would like to say that, although when discussing the Spanish Civil War one will always find their bias, Mr. Loach certainly shows his. Very little mention of the mass murder of priests and nuns is included, except in one scene where a priest is shot for informing on the militia. This was not always the case. The militias would go into a town and simply kill clergy because religion to them was fascism. I'm not trying to defend Franco. I am trying to give some wider perspective on what happened. This film is a very good film, but as I said with regards to "Michael Collins", another film Ian Hart is in, one would be better seeing this film, then reading extensively on the subject of the Spanish Civil War to get the full picture.