Ken Loach proves once again, that he is a director of the very highest calibre. He has crafted a film about the Spanish Civil War (1936-9),which was the prelude to WW2.

Truthfully I could care less about the politics of this tragic episode in world history, BUT the director,by his sheer genius & craftsmanship made me sit at the edge of my seat & pay close attention. Subtitles are used sparingly & it is hard to make some of the dialogue out due thick accent, The acting is so skillfull you needed no dialogue,you are able to understand each actors feelings & emotions. Credit this to Mr.Loach, The only actor I have heard of in this film is the lead IAN HART/ He & all the others do an excellent job. This film was made in 1995, & barely released,another example of distributors not knowing a GREAT film from a hole in the ground. Even this is a war film, there is very little violence, a good history lesson for the younger ones, then a trip to the library to find out more.

My rating is ***1/2 95/100 points 9 on IMDb

Ken Loach's 'Land and Freedom' borrows heavily from Orwell's 'Homage to Catalonia' in telling us the story of the Spannish civil war. It's nicely executed, although, telling the story from a foreign perspective, it's relatively brief in its depiction of how the country fell into war. But it doesn't shy from exploring the "revolution or order" debates that ultimately split the Republican side (and which ended with the Stalinists settling the issue in blood on the side of order). There's less romanticism here than in some Loach movies and the film is better for it, but the structure is perhaps too simple, the hero's varying feelings for a woman serving as a stand in for his whole emotional involvement in what's happening around him. It's a good film, but it's less interesting than reading Orwell, who had the fortune (if that is the word) to be able to tell history without hindsight, and from experience first hand.

The United States does a lot of good in the world. No one can deny that fact. But, anyone who believes in the canard that America is a believer in democracy only has to look at our government's support of the fascists in Miami, in Chile and in Franco's revolt in Spain.

For a good history of the military overthrow of the democratically elected government in Spain in 1936, the BBC put together a six-hour miniseries that shows what happened. For the American side, see the documentary "The Good Fight: The Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War." Of course, the NAZI's and Italian Fascists used the war as training for their invasion of Europe as they supported Franco's revolt.

This is a romantic story of David (Ian Hart) who joins the fight on the side of freedom against the forces of Franco and the Catholic priests, who used women as shields and abused them in their service of the rich landowners. He stays until the end even though he is disillusioned after the involvement of Stalin, which results in the breakup of the Republicans and, of course, the eventual loss of the war.

Hart (Breakfast on Pluto, A Cock and Bull Story) was superb in his portrayal of the disillusioned freedom fighter and Rosana Pastor showed great promise as Blanca.

Director Ken Loach (McLibel, 11'09''01 - September 11 ) was honored at Cannes for this film.