The Banshees of Inisherin
While we often look at romantic relationships, or relationships between family members, as complicated and needing work, we don’t really apply that level of thinking to friendships. Is it because they are considered more transitive, relationships that come and go depending on how they start, or when they come into someone’s life? But long-term friends can be as messy and filled with complications as either romantic or familial relationships, because sometimes, the longer the friendship, the more you start to see the limitations of either yourself in the other person’s life, or vise versa. That can be the hardest part of being an adult, realizing that sometimes, you just need more out of a friend than just a drinking buddy.
Neither Pádraic (Colin Farrell) nor Colm (Brendan Gleeson) are behaving in a rational manner in Martin McDonagh’s wicked dark comedy, and that’s where a lot of the drama comes from in “The Banshees of Inisherin,” but ultimately, what we’re watching is two people who find themselves in different places in life. Colm is thinking about what he’s going to leave behind, what his legacy is, while Pádraic is still thinking of things in terms of how they’ve always been between them. While the case can be made for Pádraic being co-dependent to an unhealthy degree, Colm just deciding he is going to stop talking to him without any other communication, and then go to drastic measures to get him to get the hint, is borderline psychotic. In a way, though, I understand why he makes the initial choice- that friendship just feels as though it has run its course.
One of the strengths of McDonagh’s film is how it’s from the perspective of Pádraic rather than Colm. By making that choice, we’re left to wonder as deeply as Pádraic does why Colm has all of the sudden decided to end the friendship. This in one of Farrell’s best roles, as a man who is used to things being one way, who cannot accept the way things are now, and needs to know, even if it means making things worse. It also makes for an interesting bookend to his output in 2022 as the father trying to understand another kind of loss in “After Yang.” Farrell has always been strongest when he’s been allowed to show vulnerability mixed with a dash of mirth, and while the vulnerability is front and center here, he leans into McDonagh’s sense of sharp humor with the conviction any introverted person has when they feel like they need to go to extremes to get their point across. This is truly terrific work from one of the best character actors in the business.
Like most people, my first experience with Brendan Gleeson was in Mel Gibson’s “Braveheart.” Since then, we’ve seen him in films as varied as “The Village,” “Troy,” “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” and “28 Days Later.” Whether he’s playing a person who poses a threat to our protagonist or a supportive ally, his imposing image is matched with a gruff personality that is also capable of displaying a bawdy sense of humor. Colm is a great combination of both of those traits from Gleeson, while the script by McDonagh also gives him impassioned dialogue such as why he feels the need to break his friendship off with Pádraic. Even if we think some of his behavior is extreme, we cannot help but appreciate how he truly is a man of his word when it comes to following through with what he tells Pádraic he’s going to do. Is Colm being a good friend? No, but he’s being one who is ultimately capable of being honest to Pádraic; even if he wants nothing to do with Pádraic again, we cannot help but respect him for that.
McDonagh is someone not afraid of using blunt messages to get his point across as a filmmaker- in a way, you get the feeling that “Banshees” might be an intensely personal film for the director. In the background, we see fighting going on in the Irish Civil War- this is not subtle- but it makes for a good backdrop for the war of personalities we’re watching in front of us. Adding texture around that war is Kerry Condon as Pádraic’s sister Siobhan, who is very protective of him, but whom also wants to have her own life, Barry Keoghan as Dominic, a friend of Pádraic’s who has struggles with his police officer father, and Pádraic’s beloved donkey and Colm’s dog. Bringing singular emotion to the film is a score by Carter Burwell that is one of the composer’s very best, using simple motifs and orchestrations to paint a bleak emotional landscape for this film, even when it becomes very funny. All of this helps makes “The Banshees of Inisherin” not only one of the best films of this year, but a unique look at friendship in turmoil, and how- sometimes- you have to go through shit together to realize how much the other person matters to you, and cares about you.
