Land and Freedom is a 1995 drama directed by Ken Loach (The Wind That Shakes The Barley) which is clearly based on the war report Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell. In 1936, David Carr, a young unemployed English communist, decided to go to Spain to fight against Franco's fascists. Because he crossed the border into Spain in Catalonia, he met members of the POUM militia by chance in a railroad carriage. So he ends up in Barcelona in the POUM training camp and then joins a company led by Lawrence on the Aragon front. In this company, women, like the enthusiastic Maite, and men fight on equal terms. There are many foreign volunteers. But David quickly realizes that there are no heroes in the war and that idealism falls by the wayside. Even some of his comrades prefer internal power struggles rather than fighting for freedom. Dave finds hope in his great love, Militia member Blanka.
The following weapons were used in the film Land and Freedom:
The 1916 Spanish Mauser is the most used rifle by the main characters including David Carr (Ian Hart), Blanca (Rosana Pastor), and Bernard Goujon (Frédéric Pierrot). Franco's Nationalists and Republican forces like the POUM militia are armed with these rifles as well. Bernard references it as a "Mauser 1896" and it's better to use a big stick instead of these rifles.
An anachronistic Lee-Enfield No. 4 Mk I rifle is briefly seen during the assault on the village which may stand in for the No. 1 Mk. III predecessor or a Pattern 1914 Enfield supplied by the British.
