Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £4.99 a month
Land and Freedom
Ken Loach’s passionate war drama follows an idealistic young Liverpudlian (Ian Hart) who fights for the international brigade during the Spanish Civil War.
Director: Ken Loach
Overview
Britain’s foremost social chronicler Ken Loach ventured beyond the UK for this passionate polemic set during the Spanish Civil War. Ian Hart plays David Carne, an idealistic young Liverpudlian who joins the international brigade to fight Franco’s fascists in the 1930s. As David becomes more engaged with his own side’s internecine conflicts than he does on the battlefield, he begins to learn the compromises and necessities of a brutal war.
While Loach may have a reputation as the most British of filmmaking institutions, Land and Freedom was first of three films made towards the end of the 1990s to focus on issues of international socialism. As such is has a more expansive, cinematic feel to many of his films, with its fine period detail and dramatic battle scenes. But the intelligence and intimacy of his best work remains, much of it deriving from Jim Allen’s typically humanistic screenplay. Land and Freedom would be Allen’s last Loach collaboration and final screen credit before his death in 1999; and from that point on Loach established another longstanding writer-director relationship with screenwriter Paul Laverty.
Related
Eastern Condors Eastern Condors
Crime 1987 98 mins Director: Sammo Hung Kam-bo
Sammo Hung directs and stars in this high-kicking tribute to The Dirty Dozen, which sees ten convicts offered amnesty if the undertake a deadly mission behind enemy lines in Vietnam to destroy a top-secret munitions dump
The Night of the Party The Night of the Party
Crime 1934 61 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s fun stage adaptation about a murder at a society party, with characterful performances from its fine ensemble cast.
The Last Metro The Last Metro
Romance 1979 132 mins Director: François Truffaut
Catherine Deneuve shines as the director and lead actor of a Parisian theatre struggling to survive under the Nazi occupation in Truffaut's wartime drama.
Germany, Year Zero Germany, Year Zero
War 1948 73 mins Director: Roberto Rossellini
The concluding part of Roberto Rossellini’s celebrated War Trilogy, set amid the war-torn ruins of Berlin.
Rome, Open City Rome, Open City
Drama 1945 103 mins Director: Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini’s landmark of Italian neorealism often cited as one of the greatest films ever made.
Paisà Paisà
War 1946 126 mins Director: Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini’s ambitious and enormously moving follow-up to his breakthrough Rome, Open City.
All Consuming Love All Consuming Love
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2011 9 mins Director: Louis Hudson
Kevin Eldon voices this oddball, award-winning animated short about a tiny middle-aged man who lives inside a stray cat.
The Battle of Algiers The Battle of Algiers
Drama 1966 121 mins Director: Gillo Pontecorvo
Gillo Pontecorvo’s masterpiece about the last years of French colonial rule in Algeria, seen from the perspective of both the revolutionaries and the French authorities.
Caravaggio Caravaggio
Biopic 1986 93 mins Director: Derek Jarman
Derek Jarman’s unique biopic of the 17th century Italian artist Michelangelo da Caravaggio is a powerful meditation on sexuality, criminality and art.
Daisies Daisies
Comedy 1966 73 mins Director: Věra Chytilová
Two self-confessed hedonists wreak wanton havoc in Věra Chytilová's visually spectacular neo-dadaist farce.
Island of the Hungry Ghosts Island of the Hungry Ghosts
Documentary 2018 98 mins Director: Gabrielle Brady
A therapist helps traumatised refugees detained on a remote island where powerful natural and tribal rituals prevail, in this extraordinary mix of fact and fiction.
Heathers Heathers
Comedy 1989 103 mins Director: Michael Lehmann
Winona Ryder and Christian Slater star in the endlessly quotable cult black comedy that subverted expectations of teen movies forever.
The Machine that Kills Bad People The Machine that Kills Bad People
Comedy 1952 84 mins Director: Roberto Rossellini and Luciano Emmer
Roberto Rossellini's film about a photographer who is given the power to rid the Earth of 'evil-doers'.
Bicycle Thieves Bicycle Thieves
Drama 1948 89 mins Director: Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio De Sica’s story of a father and son searching for a stolen bicycle on the streets of Rome is a classic of post-war Italian cinema.
Wild Men Wild Men
Comedy 2021 102 mins Director: Thomas Daneskov
In this razor-sharp black comedy featuring Sofie Gråbøl (The Killing), Martin flees to the mountains in a desperate attempt to cure his midlife crisis.
Last Summer Last Summer
Drama 2023 104 mins Director: Catherine Breillat
French cinema’s great provocateur Catherine Breillat returns with a sharp and cruel tale of seduction and manipulation in a bourgeois household.
Girl Girl
Drama 2022 87 mins Director: Adura Onashile
Déborah Lukumuena and Le’Shantey Bonsu give stunning performances as a deeply connected mother and daughter in Adura Onashile’s tender drama.
La Belle et la Bête La Belle et la Bête
Fantasy 1946 95 mins Director: Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau’s ravishingly restored 1946 film is a cinematic classic. “Five stars. [This] magical exploration of the fairytale is a compelling and bizarre masterpiece” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian