The Banshees of InisherinCommunity is like a quilt. It is woven together by the threads of our friendships with others. What happens when someone opts to sever one of the threads is that the whole quilt unravels. The Banshees of Inisherin is a tragicomedy set on a (fictional) rural island just off the coast of Ireland in 1923 (at the end of the Irish Civil War) called Inisherin. It is about a kind man named Pádraic Súilleabháin (Colin Farrell) who discovers that his friend, Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson), has abruptly ended their friendship, instead adopting a cold and unfriendly disposition toward the baffled Pádraic.
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Written and directed by Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin is a wholly Irish movie from toe to tip. From the scenic vistas--filmed on Inishmore and Achill Island, both off the coast of Ireland--to the convincing pubs, replete with music and ale, The Banshees of Inisherin feels like you're stepping back in time and visiting this locale in real life. The island of Inisherin is a tightly knit community, where everybody knows everyone, even if they don't always like one another. A nosy shopkeep who gets the mail for the island--and sometimes opens it herself--always begs rumors from her visitors. Pádraic is the island milkman who lives with his sister, Siobhán (Kerry Condon), and the two live in a cottage with a pet miniature donkey named Jenny. (Pádraic loves animals and wants Jenny to be a house donkey; Siobhán does not want to clean up after her.) This could be any town, any place; it could be where you live. It's easy to identify the characters as being surrogates for our friends and family. And this is key to understanding the hurt Colm inflicts on Pádraic. He isn't just being cold to a stranger or mere acquaintance; he is cutting off a member of the community. Why? Because Colm claims that Pádraic is "dull", and that he has no more time to waste on unimportant chatter. Colm fancies himself as a composer--even going so far as to compare himself with Mozart--and is convinced that the only way for him to leave a lasting legacy is to spend his time composing and denying Pádraic's companionship. Despite Colm's composed and seemingly stoic demeanor, everyone believes that this is loony; and despite appearances, Colm is loony. (What he does with the shears is beyond mental.) See, Colm only ostracizes Pádraic, and no one else. He continues to frequent the pub as usual, and carries on conversations with everyone else there--including the vicious garda (policeman) for the island, Peadar Kearney (Gary Lydon), even after this cop assaults Pádraic in the streets for an ill-tempered exchange at the post office. For all intents and purposes, however, Colm's action is cruel...and yet the town comes to gradually accept that Pádraic's struggles to reconnect with Colm--which provoke increasingly extreme responses--turn him into the "troublemaker" instead. Each effort to reconcile only results in an escalation of tension, and eventually a breakdown for Pádraic that turns him from one of "God's good people" into a bitter and angry man...just like Colm is.
It is no mere coincidence that The Banshees of Inisherin is set just shy of a hundred years ago in Ireland, during their civil war. As with our own, it was a conflict of "brother against brother", with a nation divided and pitted against itself over what was fundamentally an ideological difference of opinion. In the case of Colm and Pádraic, this is played out on a smaller scale, but the events that follow become a micro-war in its own way, including collateral damage and casualties. Pádraic finds that his only sounding board for his sorrow is the town fool-and son to the local garda: Dominic Kearney (Barry Keoghan). Dominic is young and rambunctious, and a little creepy; nevertheless, he is there for Pádraic in this dark time. Dominic's father beats him, and we suspect not for the first time; but it isn't until Dominic has been a pal to Pádraic that Pádraic speaks up and against Peadar...which elicits a violent reprisal from this bully of a man. People on the island can see the gunfire from the shores of Inisherin, but they are essentially removed from "the troubles", until those troubles come to the town inadvertently by way of Colm's decision. Is Colm not entitled to discontinue a friendship? Sure he is, but nevertheless, we have to accept that our actions affect all around us. Others in the community--and there is always a community--are forced to adapt to this "new way". The irony of setting the film on an island is that it reminds us of that old saying, that "no man is an island", despite what Colm is attempting in so many ways. And Colm isn't truly a bad man. He loves his dog, he teaches students how to play the fiddle, and brings joy to the pub in the evenings with his performances...all save for Pádraic at this point. The tragedy of The Banshees of Inisherin is both how a failure to communicate creates devastating ripples in the lives of the townsfolk (especially our two main characters), but also in how a callous decision (Colm's) brings low an otherwise kind and gentle man (Pádraic). Heck, from the first moment we see Pádraic, he is walking along the lovely greens of this Irish isle, and there is literally a rainbow in the distance. What could look more halcyon than that? Compare this with the cold and bleak conclusion of the film, and it becomes clear (if it hadn't been before) just what misunderstanding, selfishness, and altogether unneighborly behavior does to reduce a community to nothing more than a bunch of crummy houses occupied by lonely souls.
Recommended for: Fans of a compelling dark comedy/tragedy that hits closer to home than ever in our increasingly polarized communities. The Banshees of Inisherin at first appears to be just a simple, touching story about drinking buddies turned "frenemies", but it is steeped in metaphor and contemporary relevance for those that choose to see it as such.
It is no mere coincidence that The Banshees of Inisherin is set just shy of a hundred years ago in Ireland, during their civil war. As with our own, it was a conflict of "brother against brother", with a nation divided and pitted against itself over what was fundamentally an ideological difference of opinion. In the case of Colm and Pádraic, this is played out on a smaller scale, but the events that follow become a micro-war in its own way, including collateral damage and casualties. Pádraic finds that his only sounding board for his sorrow is the town fool-and son to the local garda: Dominic Kearney (Barry Keoghan). Dominic is young and rambunctious, and a little creepy; nevertheless, he is there for Pádraic in this dark time. Dominic's father beats him, and we suspect not for the first time; but it isn't until Dominic has been a pal to Pádraic that Pádraic speaks up and against Peadar...which elicits a violent reprisal from this bully of a man. People on the island can see the gunfire from the shores of Inisherin, but they are essentially removed from "the troubles", until those troubles come to the town inadvertently by way of Colm's decision. Is Colm not entitled to discontinue a friendship? Sure he is, but nevertheless, we have to accept that our actions affect all around us. Others in the community--and there is always a community--are forced to adapt to this "new way". The irony of setting the film on an island is that it reminds us of that old saying, that "no man is an island", despite what Colm is attempting in so many ways. And Colm isn't truly a bad man. He loves his dog, he teaches students how to play the fiddle, and brings joy to the pub in the evenings with his performances...all save for Pádraic at this point. The tragedy of The Banshees of Inisherin is both how a failure to communicate creates devastating ripples in the lives of the townsfolk (especially our two main characters), but also in how a callous decision (Colm's) brings low an otherwise kind and gentle man (Pádraic). Heck, from the first moment we see Pádraic, he is walking along the lovely greens of this Irish isle, and there is literally a rainbow in the distance. What could look more halcyon than that? Compare this with the cold and bleak conclusion of the film, and it becomes clear (if it hadn't been before) just what misunderstanding, selfishness, and altogether unneighborly behavior does to reduce a community to nothing more than a bunch of crummy houses occupied by lonely souls.
Recommended for: Fans of a compelling dark comedy/tragedy that hits closer to home than ever in our increasingly polarized communities. The Banshees of Inisherin at first appears to be just a simple, touching story about drinking buddies turned "frenemies", but it is steeped in metaphor and contemporary relevance for those that choose to see it as such.