both groups were supposed to be on the same side. At one point he is guarding the Communist Party headquarters in Barcelona and engages in banter across the barricades with the anarchists opposite. He asks a Mancunian among them "Why aren't you over here with us?" In reply his compatriot asks him the same question and Carr answers "I don't know". Another important moment inspired by actual events is the execution of a village priest for acting in favor of the fascist side: he has broken the seal of confessions, telling the fascists where the anarchists were hiding and causing their deaths. The priest is also shown to have a bruised shoulder from firing a rifle. Most critics and viewers noted the similarity between the story narrated in this film and George Orwell's book Homage to Catalonia, in which the author wrote one of the more famous accounts of the war, that of his own experience as a volunteer in the ILP Contingent, part of the POUM militia. Soundtrack A Las Barricades - Courtesy of Confederación de Nacional del Trabajo La Internacional (1888) - Written by Pierre De Geyter A Las Mujeres/"Ramona" (1928) - Music by Mabel Wayne - Lyrics by L. Wolfe Gilbert Si me Quieres Escribir - Written by Juan Ignacio Cuadrado Bueno Reception Critical response The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports approval rating based on reviews, with an average rating of , . David Armstrong, cinema critic for The San Francisco Examiner, stated in SF Gate that "Veteran British director Ken Loach continues to toil in the fields of a now largely, and unjustly, eclipsed tradition: European social realism. Working in a near-documentary style that emphasizes the grit of everyday life, the cynical secretiveness of political leaders and the nobility of small people with big dreams, Loach makes feature films of uncommon gravity and integrity". Bill Alexander, the former commander of the British Battalion of the International Brigades, was heavily critical of the film. Alexander accused Land and Freedom of "presenting a narrow and partisan view of the war that exaggerated the role of the few dozen British volunteers with the quasi-Trotskyist POUM militia at the expense of the International Brigaders." Philip French writing in The Observer said, "scripted by his regular collaborator, Jim Allen, Loach's movie is a visceral, emotional and intellectual experience, and among the finest films of the decade.". See also List of