Ken Loach's movie The Wind That Shakes the Barley has taken the Palme d'Or at the Cannes film festival.

Reuters say that the decision by the nine member jury was unanimous. After winning the award Loach said:

"Our film is about, we hope, a little step, a very little step in the British confronting their imperialist history. And maybe, if we tell the truth about the past, maybe we tell the truth about the present."

Cillian Murphy and Padraic Delaney star as two brothers who join the guerrilla war against British forces [during the Irish struggle for independence in 1920]. But the men face harrowing choices when they end up on opposite sides of the conflict.

In second place was another war based film, again looking at the affects of war on the individual.

The Grand Prix, or runner up prize, was awarded to "Flanders", directed by France's Bruno Dumont. The film is an examination of war and its effect on those who fight and those who are left behind. It is told through the story of the young and taciturn farmhand Demester, who is called up to fight a war in an unspecified country.

The full list of winners and comments from the Judges themselves can be seen over at the Cannes Film Festival site. This year the competition really did look strong and the themes of our world today seemed to repeat through many of the movies.

Indeed, the two main winners are about wars that are either very much at the heart of a nation or are forefront in the news today. Surely this is what cinema is all about and not Dukes of Hazzard 2!