Top 10 Irish films of the decade

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Michael Fassbender as Bobby Sands in "Hunger"

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Gifted Irish and Irish American filmmakers make creating a top ten list of the best films of the 00’s a cinch. We apologize if we’ve left your favorite out but we had to select just 10. The following 10 movies feature an Irish director, theme or star. Hey, can you think of another nation the size of Rhode Island that has had such a profound impact on the world stage? 

 1. The Wind That Shakes The Barley (2006) 

Director Ken Loach’s unforgettable film about the Irish War of Independence begins with a simple Sunday hurling match in County Cork in 1920. It’s a modest opening entirely in keeping with this brilliant cinema verity telling of how farmhands, clerks and shop assistants drove the most powerful Empire the world has ever known out of their country. 

Damien (Cillian Murphy) wants complete Home Rule and a socialist revolution in Ireland but his less idealistic brother Teddy (played by impressive newcomer Padraic Delaney) is willing to accept the treaty as the best outcome for the time being. The British have gone (except from Northern Ireland, of course) but they exit creating a brutal civil war they orchestrate and encourage. The scenes between the two brothers as they are forced to choose between their vision for the future and the bonds that unite them are among the most emotionally searing you’re ever likely to see. 

2. Hunger (2008) 

Artist Steve McQueen’s first film is a masterpiece. It explores the life and legacy of Bobby Sands (played by Ireland’s Michael Fassbender) with an outsider’s detachment. For the prison wardens of the H-Block the day begins with a search under the car for explosive devices; for the Republican prisoners, the day begins with a violent strip search and interrogation. In the film, all of this is presented dispassionately, without a word. But McQueen stands back, takes no side, and simply films what he sees. What he’s really interested in, we eventually discover, is how a man comes to the decision to starve himself to death, and what happens to him once that choice is made. Hunger is one of the most accomplished films of the decade. 

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