Over the course of his long and illustrious career, British director Ken Loach has directed more classics than some directors have ever had a chance to make in their entire careers. Among those classics is Land and Freedom (1995), which tells the story of David Carr, an unemployed man who is a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain who one day decides to fight for the Republicans (Socialists, Communists, and Anarchists) in the Spanish Civil War against Francisco Franco and his fascist government. Along the way, Carr falls in love with a Spanish woman named Blanca despite his struggle to stay alive, to deal with the situation he is in, and to remain ideologically pure.
Although Land and Freedom wasn't all that successful at the box office (it made only $350,000), it was very critically successful. Not only was it nominated for the Palme d'Or, critics loved the film. Phillip French of The Observer loved the film, saying that the film, "[which is] scripted by his regular collaborator, Jim Allen, is a visceral, emotional and intellectual experience, and among the finest films of the decade." Writes David Ansen of Newsweek: "Superbly acted by a cast that seamlessly mixes pros and amateurs, this honest, angry epic is a heartbreaking salute to the spirit of resistance."
