The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
Martin McDonagh's new movie, reuniting Brandon Gleeson and Colin Farrell who previously starred in his debut In Bruges. Banshees is, simply put, a tragicomedy about two middle aged men in 1920's rural Ireland falling out for no specific reason. Gleeson's Colm one day just decides that he's bored of Farrell's Padraic and wants nothing to do with him anymore. This marks the start of one of the most passive aggressive feuds ever put to cinema.
Banshees of Inisherin is certainly a lot closer to the tragic end of the tragicomedy label than to the comedic one. The fictional island of Inisherin embodies hell as imagined by Sartre, an oppressive accumulation of petty human cruelty that will, one way or another, wear you down. Something as minor as two drinking buddies having a fight with each other ruins at least two lives. The movie draws some clear parallels to the Irish civil war that's going on on the mainland while the events on Inisherin play out, but Banshees is very much about the crushing bleakness of provincial life before anything else.
Martin McDonagh once again proves his aptitude for writing engaging dialogue. Where works like In Bruges and 7 Psychopaths might have suggested another Tarantino imitator, what with their witty banter between fast talking criminals, Banshees points more towards his background in theater. Many of the conversations are slow, meandering, failing to address the actual interpersonal problems at the heart of them, simply on the virtue of being exchanged between early 20th century yokels that have neither the vocabulary nor the insight into their own emotional lives to articulate them to each other.
It is very much a character drama at its most straight forward. Nothing happens that isn't caused by the actions and reactions of its people towards each other. People who, for the most part, are hard to have much sympathy with. Stubborn country folk, too old and drunk to work out their problems in a way that isn't destructive towards each other and towards themselves. Kerry Condon, playing Padraic's sister Siobhan stands out as the sole voice of reason in the entire village. Needless to say, she leaves the movie before the start of the final act.
Banshees of Inisherin is a bleak movie about human conflict at its most pointless. It has a couple of laughs, but most of it is as harsh as its beautifully framed irish landscapes. It's about people who are brimming with resentment towards the banality of their own life and the harmful ways that resentment expresses itself.
Banshees is overall a solid movie both in writing and direction, a thoroughly well executed drama. It will certainly appeal to those fascinated with some of the more frustrating aspects of human nature. If only for both Farrell and Gleeson turning in very strong performances. That said, it also dedicates perhaps an unnecessary amount of time to a story that's ultimately very simple and oftentimes feels very stagey in a way that even its wide angle shots don't distract from. It's a typical "I liked it fine" movie. Good, not great, overall worth a watch.
Martin McDonagh's new movie, reuniting Brandon Gleeson and Colin Farrell who previously starred in his debut In Bruges. Banshees is, simply put, a tragicomedy about two middle aged men in 1920's rural Ireland falling out for no specific reason. Gleeson's Colm one day just decides that he's bored of Farrell's Padraic and wants nothing to do with him anymore. This marks the start of one of the most passive aggressive feuds ever put to cinema.
Banshees of Inisherin is certainly a lot closer to the tragic end of the tragicomedy label than to the comedic one. The fictional island of Inisherin embodies hell as imagined by Sartre, an oppressive accumulation of petty human cruelty that will, one way or another, wear you down. Something as minor as two drinking buddies having a fight with each other ruins at least two lives. The movie draws some clear parallels to the Irish civil war that's going on on the mainland while the events on Inisherin play out, but Banshees is very much about the crushing bleakness of provincial life before anything else.
Martin McDonagh once again proves his aptitude for writing engaging dialogue. Where works like In Bruges and 7 Psychopaths might have suggested another Tarantino imitator, what with their witty banter between fast talking criminals, Banshees points more towards his background in theater. Many of the conversations are slow, meandering, failing to address the actual interpersonal problems at the heart of them, simply on the virtue of being exchanged between early 20th century yokels that have neither the vocabulary nor the insight into their own emotional lives to articulate them to each other.
It is very much a character drama at its most straight forward. Nothing happens that isn't caused by the actions and reactions of its people towards each other. People who, for the most part, are hard to have much sympathy with. Stubborn country folk, too old and drunk to work out their problems in a way that isn't destructive towards each other and towards themselves. Kerry Condon, playing Padraic's sister Siobhan stands out as the sole voice of reason in the entire village. Needless to say, she leaves the movie before the start of the final act.
Banshees of Inisherin is a bleak movie about human conflict at its most pointless. It has a couple of laughs, but most of it is as harsh as its beautifully framed irish landscapes. It's about people who are brimming with resentment towards the banality of their own life and the harmful ways that resentment expresses itself.
Banshees is overall a solid movie both in writing and direction, a thoroughly well executed drama. It will certainly appeal to those fascinated with some of the more frustrating aspects of human nature. If only for both Farrell and Gleeson turning in very strong performances. That said, it also dedicates perhaps an unnecessary amount of time to a story that's ultimately very simple and oftentimes feels very stagey in a way that even its wide angle shots don't distract from. It's a typical "I liked it fine" movie. Good, not great, overall worth a watch.