With the Oscars fast approaching, I’ve set myself the goal of watching every film nominated for best picture before the award show. So far, I’ve seen Elvis, Avatar: The Way of Water, Top Gun: Maverick, Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, and this week I checked off The Banshees of Inisherin (directed by Martin McDonagh). Before I watched this movie, I really wasn’t sure what to make of the plot summary. It simply described two lifelong friends at odds after one of them decides to end their relationship. I wasn’t sure how there would be two hours worth of plot out of such a simple concept, but I was definitely mistaken. The Banshees of Inisherin is a phenomenal example of how a quiet story regarding a few people can cover the most complex of themes and ideas.
One of the most interesting things about the film is its setting. I saw one reviewer describe the film as being “aggressively Irish” and I have to agree (in a good way). The setting is absolutely beautiful and the film is shot in a stunning green/gray color palette. While the dialogue can be a bit difficult to follow at first, the slang that the characters use helps give context to the island and its people. In addition to the dialogue, I felt like every person’s screen time was used extremely effectively. The film wastes no time getting started, as the very first scene is Pádraic going to Colm’s house to ask if he wants to go to the pub. Even without having read the description of the film, it was easy to pick up that this was a normal occurrence and Pádraic felt comfortable around Colm — until he suddenly didn’t. Without the use of words, it was clear between the sullen blankness of Colm’s face and the confused and slightly hurt look on Pádraic’s that something was amiss. The connection between these two characters was very strong from the start and I believe they were cast perfectly for the roles. Others, such as Pádraic’s sister, Siobhán, and the wayward boy, Dominic, also jump right into the plot without much explanation of their characters. It’s up to the audience to discern how these characters are related to each other and I found that it was very easy to do so thanks to the directing and acting choices.
I found that there were several ways people decided to interpret this film. Some theorized that Colm and Pádraic’s conflict is a metaphor for the Irish civil war. This would make sense as neighbor turned on neighbor without warning during the war. There was some mention of a military conflict throughout the film, so McDonagh might’ve been leading the audience in that direction. I, however, am leaning toward another interpretation: the fact that Colm stopped being friends with Pádraic out of selflessness. It’s hard to consider, at first, how hurting Pádraic so deeply and causing his downward spiral would be done out of kindness, but there are many hints that lead to this conclusion. Firstly, Colm is much older than Pádraic. It also seems that Colm is unhappy in his current situation and his life leading up to this point. It’s possible that he realized Pádraic would end up with the same fate as him unless something drastic happened to get him to leave the island. Colm is (or was) Pádraic’s only friend, and by taking that away, he might’ve hoped it would be enough to shock him into action. Instead, it caused Pádraic to doubt everyone and everything around him and eventually begin hating the people around him. Clearly, if this was Colm’s intention, they backfired terribly by the end of the film.
These are most definitely not the only ways to interpret The Banshees of Inisherin, and I invite you to watch it for yourself and draw your own conclusions. It’s most certainly worthy of its Best Picture nomination and I hope that come Oscar time, it gets the recognition it deserves.
