The Wind that Shakes the Barley is the story of two brothers who fight for independence only to be torn apart by the Civil War. Director Ken Loach and writer Paul Laverty talked with Paula Shields following their Palme d'Or win.

Strong convictions and soft speaking voices echo round the room at the Clarence Hotel. Director Ken Loach and screenwriter Paul Laverty are here to talk about their new film, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, whose cosy, old-fashioned title belies a savage tale of brothers-in-arms set in the War of Independence and the Civil War.

Paula: Congratulations on the Palme d'Or. How did that feel?

Ken Loach: It was quite extraordinary. We knew we'd won something when I was asked to go back, but I didn't know what. The British press were giving us a hard time so, just reading that, we weren't expecting much, but the European press was much more supportive. It's terrific for everybody because it's something for the whole film.

Your films have done well at Cannes in the past. (Hidden Agenda won the Jury prize in 1990, Raining Stones won the Special Jury Prize in 1993, and Land and Freedom won the Ecumenical Jury Prize in 1995.)

Ken: Yes, not too bad.

After Hidden Agenda, are you accustomed to the vitriol which your Irish films evoke in the British press?

Ken: No, this is worse than most. I mean, you know they're capable of it. It's just despicable stuff. It bears no relation to anything other than their warped minds. It's a handful of people but they have far larger space than their numbers deserve. I think it says far more about them than about the film – which they haven't seen.

With a story set in the complex, turbulent times of the War of Independence, where do you start on a script?

Paul Laverty: Very slowly is the answer to that! The real challenge was it happened eighty years ago. You really have to get a grip on the narrative, what actually happened, and then of course choose the period, get a grasp of the history – which is massively contested – and find an area we were both really interested in. Focus on that, find out how the people lived and spoke, what they wore, the letters they wrote, go to the museums, find the songs, the newspaper reports, the language.

I knew very early on I didn't want to do someone's actual life. I wanted to use fictional characters, but to be true to the spirit of the times and create a credible flying column. There'd be the farm labourer, who's going to be different from the farmer's son; an artisan; the Damien figure, who'd been to university, which was very important. The medical faculty in Cork was actually very Republican – Ernie O'Malley was a medical student. It was key to have the socialist argument there through someone like Liam Cunningham's Dan, who had lived through the Lock-Out, who'd seen Arthur Griffith, who was a member of Sinn Féin, supported the Lock-Out when workers were starving. It's full of contradiction.

The role of women was absolutely key in my mind. The first character to come to mind was Peggy, someone who was in contact with the Famine, who'd been evicted like Michael Davitt's grandparents, who when she is told for the third time to move says no. Whose grandson won't give his name in English. It was a big challenge!

The full article is printed in Film Ireland 111.