The Banshees of Inisherin

Colm eventually gives Pádraic an ultimatum: every time he bothers him or tries to talk with him, he will cut off one of his own left fingers with a pair of sheep shears.

I love several of McDonagh's plays, but his movies are too slick for my taste. Still, I'll probably see this; even if it disappoints, the scenic pleasures offered by western Ireland and Colin Farrell should compensate.

NYT: “The Banshees of Inisherin” might feel a little thin if you hold it to conventional standards of comedy or drama. It’s better thought of as a piece of village gossip, given a bit of literary polish and a handsome pastoral finish. Inisherin may not be a real place, but its eccentric characters, rugged vistas and vivid local legends make it an attractive tourist destination all the same."

[quote] the scenic pleasures offered by western Ireland

Photographed on the same picturesque but fake locations that helped destroy the credibility in David Lean's worse big film "Ryan's Daughter".

[quote] even if it disappoints, the scenic pleasures offered by western Ireland and Colin Farrell should compensate.

R2, that's exactly why I want to watch the movie.

And R3 confirms that's pretty much the only reason to watch it.

Ooh, I wanna see this movie!

Irish people LOVE to talk. They've got 'the gift of the gab.

But I suspect all talk and NO action won't make this much of a 'motion picture'.

looks like some action in the trailer.

Colin Farrell looks great!

I love the name Inisherin.

It sounds like something from Lord of the Rings.

This reminds me, it's time to rewatch Local Hero again. Love that movie.

Forgot to post the link...

Saw it today. It’s a sad and lovely little film and my favorite of the year so far. Colin Farrell is perfect in it as are the rest of the cast but his performance just broke my heart. It’s a dark comedy about friendship, war, art, and kindness. And a sweet little donkey named Jennie.

I recall this being mentioned as an unproduced film script back when he started getting famous as a playwright. It was supposed to be a trilogy, right? The Cripple... The Lieutenant... and The Banshee.

Am I the only one that sees it as nothing but a cruel film? And to me you could see almost everything coming a mile away. Colin is wonderful but I can't honestly say I enjoyed it.

"McDonagh borrowed the title from a play he’d written years earlier but had been too embarrassed to publish. The Banshees of Inisheer would have formed the third part of his Aran Islands trilogy, completing a cycle that would have covered the entirety of the small island chain southwest of Galway. But, he says, there is nothing of that play in his new film. He just liked the alliterative ‘sh’ sound of The Banshees of Inisherin as a title, as much as to include a reference to it in the script itself.

Freed from the confines of a theater in which to stage it, McDonagh knew he wanted to bring a cinematic scale to the landscapes, opening the possibility of scouting more of Ireland’s west coast, and so setting the film on the extant isle of Inisheer felt disingenuous. So, Inisherin was born from his imagination, but he does consider the film, loosely, to be a third part of the trilogy. “I guess in my heart it had to feel like it could be one of the Aran Islands,” he notes."

Look, the acting is great, right down to the animals. The coastal scenery is spectacular. The true Irish accents are delightful. The sorrow is palpable. Is there humor? Aye, with a rueful cast.

However.

What "The Banshees of Inisherin" is, is a slice of life (no pun intended) of some rural isolated island villagers that we meet in media res. The dialogue is spare and repetitive. "I'll come by at 2, like." "Don't talk to me." "Feckin hell." "No animals inside!" "I'll come by at 2, then." "Feckin hell, it's a finger!" "I'll have a pint." "Ye liked me yesterday." "Feckin hell, it's the other fingers! Feckin hell."

The jarring and grotesque visuals of the abovementioned fingers might be Civil War Writ Large, but if anything keeps me from another watching, they will.

** Yes, war destroys and often randomly, duh. But then why sail towards it?

Pretentious fucking title for a movie.

Pretentious fucking title for a really good movie.

It's Colm's title for his music composition.

One of the reviews I recently read sums the film up pretty well:

"The quality of McDonagh's writing shines through here. For all its nihilism, the movie is at times quite funny, albeit with a gallows shading to the humor. And it is thematically rich, delving into the bleaker aspects of human nature – how people too easily fall prey to their darker nature and allow stubbornness and an unwillingness to accept consequences to rule their lives. In one acerbic sentence, Siobhan nails it: 'You’re all feckin’ borin' with your piddling grievances.' It’s no coincidence, however, that the movie transpires in the shadow of the Irish Civil War (with gunfire and canons occasionally heard across the water). The politics of that struggle may not reach the island but the essentials of human nature cannot be easily escaped."

It may be a bit slow but knowing what a cock Colm has bouncing around his pants will keep me attentive.

It needs more explosions and car chases.

R21, What can also be said about the quoted observation of Siobhan could be the unwitting irony of a meta-review of the movie itself, at least for some.

Who in "TBoI" was "unwilling to accept consequences"? Not Colm, so I assume the reviewer means Padraic.

Yes, Padraic perseveres after Colm severs his first digit, but that consequence is Colm's, who willingly accepts it.

Or is it the choking death of Jenny, a donkey that couldn't discern a human finger from a carrot, that is the "consequence" for Padraic, who perpetrates a revenge that results in a final moment of probable reconciliation, which by connotation is not a "consequence"?

Moreover, this reviewer actually writes that "it is no coincidence" that the movie's background is the Irish Civil War. NS, Sherlock! [Note to reviewer: War, writ large or small, is human nature. We don't need a civil war booming in the background to "get it."]

To sum up this review, which in high-falutin' language informs us that this movie is "thematically rich" without (much) elucidation:

"'The Banshees of Inisherin" is about 'the essentials of human nature,' in particular 'the bleaker aspects.'"

To be even more succinct, all this pretentious reviewer says is:

"'The Banshees of Inisherin' is about people."