The Banshees Of Inisherin

Seneca the Stoic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120080427#Comment_120080427

You’re the one who needs to relax. Second-guessing anyone who dares not exalt the film. Asking people did they watch it “properly” 😅

Beechwoodspark

Having talked to a good circle of friends and acquaintances over Christmas

A few good souls liked it or said it was a bit mehhh.

but a lot didn’t like the film - totally over rated and over hyped.

the best comment was from a friend who said it was “wetherspoons Beckett effort from a plastic paddy” - I thought that was nail on head.

Beechwoodspark

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120078099#Comment_120078099

This sums it up well

AyeGer

I find the old begorragh begorragh view of Ireland with farm animals wandering about the kitchen a bit cringe. And the implication that they spend their days in a pub drinking.

Tony EH

It's weird that this film is upsetting some people so much in that they're finding it so hard to buy into in the events that unfold on the screen. It's essentially a play and, as such, has a heightened sense of reality. You're not really meant to think "sure, this would happen in real life", just as you're not meant to think that 'In Bruges' or 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri' are realistic, true to life yarns. As someone else put it, succinctly, it's Beckett crossed with 'Father Ted' in as much that it has a fairly out there story set on the gloominess of Craggy Island. Also, the actions and motivations of the characters are left open to your own interpretation. So people should feel free to see what they can in the story.

And as Marcel Duchamps said, "All art is what you say it is", or words to that effect anyway. So therefore, the viewer is entitled to react to the film in the way that they do. Whether that's a natural reaction or whether they went in looking to hate it in the first place.

Personally, I thought the film was very good, if taken as semi absurdist theatre. Probably the directors best so far and it doesn't have that extreme shift in tone that lets the final third of 'In Bruges' down.

Acting wise, I think everyone was excellent, including the much maligned Barry Keoghan (who seems to get an inordinate amount of hate for some odd reason) and, to me, all the main characters are well drawn people beset by their own burdens. Farrell's Padriac is nice, but incredibly dull and not the brightest shilling either, and therefore hindered by a lack of personality and intelligence. That's coupled with an pig headed inability to simply accept a situation and move on.

Gleeson's Colm is a man nearing the end of his life and realising he's done nothing with it. He's also lumbered with a (possibly) mediocre talent and also has a mediocre ambition to write a bit of music before he gives up completely - IIRC we never actually get to hear that piece of music. As he says he's just marking time until the inevitable and that sudden epiphany and the further spiral into a depressive state is his burden. He's also burdened by the other realisation that he's never really liked his "lifelong friend" and was simply marking time there as well. Colm is a man that wants to be remembered far more than he deserves to be because he's done nothing memorable.

Kelly Condon's character, Siobhan, is a smart woman who's wasted her years with her head in books. She has a palpable disdain for the people of the island, whom she views as "boring". She wants to run away to bury herself in a library job which is, more than likely, her metaphorical conclusion as a spinster, doomed to live out her years in loneliness on the more populated mainland.

And, finally, Keoghan's character of Dominic is burdened with, seemingly, a mental condition which renders an ability to interact with the other islanders. He's written off a "dumb" or "slow" and his destiny is to be the village idiot, which he's half way there to becoming. But in a couple of scenes, we see that perhaps he's not as stupid as the people of the island believe him to be. He's also abused by his father, a man who revels in his position as "the law" on the island, and that may well play an important part in his stunted mental growth. Dominic's way out of his burden is, as he desperately hopes, through Siobhan. But his advances are politely refused, with devastating consequences.

All of the main characters are well realised, even if it's within the film's own particular sense of reality. Of course Colm's extreme reaction wouldn't happen in real life, but his existential crisis of his own dawning inconsequential being is one that many of us will come to understand and there are many of us who would do worse than what Colm did and choose to take the ultimate act of mutilation.

At the very least, 'The Banshees of Inisherin' provided a reaction, whether it was positive of negative. And it has enough going on in it to provoke a thought or two, which is more than can be said for a lot of movies these days. That alone makes it worth a watch.

Seneca the Stoic

Not sure anyone is getting upset, on this thread at least.

squidgainz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120081441#Comment_120081441

Ah in fairness , island life back then, I'd say a lot spent their days in the pub. I didn't like the movie though , boring. And I wasn't on my phone hahah.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120081444#Comment_120081444

Just on the first paragraph. I know it's not supposed to be realistic and I know it's like a play but I just didn't think it was a good one.

The big difference between this and In Bruges or Billboards is they had humour to make the surreal work. And it's nothing like Father Ted other than being set on a version of Iniseer.

Again as I said further up thread people are getting annoyed due to being told we were just too thick to understand.

Count Dracula

It was fairly mediocre, lets' be honest.

What upsets me most is how the numpties in the likes of any awards awarding grouping ( ie Vienna, Cannes, Berlin etc ) feel they have the right to emulate a pretty bland production the realms of brilliance, when clearly it isn't?

I have been watching Fims and movies for almost half a century now, I don't need to be told what I should or shouldn't like, or my preference patronised either?

I might not get the nod for many red carpets, but it was crap? I don't care if it was written as a play either, it highlights to me how people should follow their own insitincts on media reviews - in particular, bollo generated by Rotten Tomatoes or Meta Critic.?

I look forward to now spending the next few years having a good look at all the 30% reviews received by these accumulations, I know for a fact I will be more than entertained, at least. I have sat through far too many overhyped productions in the last decade to prove a point.

With respect to anyone involved in the production, I am sure you all did your very best.

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120081537#Comment_120081537

By 'Father Ted', I mean the setting, not the humour content, which is minimal just like every other McDonagh production. I, frankly, have no idea why his films are considered comedies for the most part, dark or otherwise. 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri' wasn't the slightest bit comedic, and although 'In Bruges' is fun up to a certain point...it abruptly stops being fun with an incredibly uncomfortable break neck tonal change.

But 'The Banshee's Inisherin' is Father Ted-esque merely because it's set on an island that's populated with odd characters. However, it's certainly leans more towards Beckett territory, than Linehan/Mathews.

By the way, surrealism doesn't need humour to work. They can, and often do, exist independent of one another. But if 'The Banshee's Inisherin' isn't for you, or anyone else for that matter, then that's just what it is. And at the end of the day everyone sees their own film or reads their own book or listens to their own music.

However, what the film isn't is "terrible", or "crap" or any number of variations on that type of remark. I've seen a lot of genuinely terrible movies and McDonagh's film isn't within a sniff of that yardstick.

johnny_ultimate

I've been genuinely surprised to see such online pushback against the film being labelled a comedy. There was some debate about that when it won a 'best comedy or musical' film award somewhere recently. It's classed in the same category for the Golden Globes, incidentally, as opposed to drama. I thought it was a very explicitly comedic film, while also of course being a dark drama ('tragicomedy', as Wikipedia lists it, seems about right). Whether individual viewers find it funny or not is one thing, but there are lots of comic moments and laugh lines scattered throughout the film that are very much designed as such. When I watched it in the cinema there were plenty of moments that drew very big laughs from the audience. The film goes dark for sure with moments that are very much not comic, but I thought it achieved a balance that McDonagh struggled a bit more with in some of his previous films.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120082253#Comment_120082253

I would definitely see humour in Billboards. Not using any sort of jokes or set pieces but in sheer absurdity.

I do think surrealism needs that sort of absurd "haha that was a bit mad" reaction where as in this movie all the surreal stuff just felt flat. It was very "wow he cut his finger off" rather than "WOW! HE CUT HIS FINGER OFF" if you get me.

Judging against other movies is a tough one. Compared to Battlefield Earth or Sex and the City 2 it's a masterpiece so saying it's "better than many other movies" is ya correct but compared to similar movies like the ones you mentioned it's very forgettable or compared to other acclaimed movies. It's certainly not the worst movie I've seen this year (Amsterdam)

sydthebeat

Anyone who has seen mcdonaghs "cripple of inishman" knows the tone and absurdist comedy that mc donagh produces, and this move is essentially a cinemaic version of this. It's the same isolist, nosey, absurd island life in both

Thelonious Monk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120077071#Comment_120077071

i saw it in the cinema and still didn't really know what the F it was all about. i still kind of enjoyed it but i don't really get the hype and wouldn't want to see it again.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120082561#Comment_120082561

I really regret not getting to this when it came out in London.

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120082864#Comment_120082864

Caught it in Dublin, well worth taking it in if it gets to your area again

Denny61

Just saw it on tv last night. A forgettable movie to be honest .had a few characters in it That a story should have been built around..like siobhan ..but it was jst all about following Colin Farell around and watching him ask gleesons character hundreds of times...why have you fallen out with me..or why aren't you taking to me..if not telling each and every islander what the hell is wrong with him...I lost the will to live half way in ..the only two winners out of this are the animals and the scenery .its no wonder people around the world view us as simpletons and backwards and still think we live like that in the present .mac Donagh should only be let near plays on stage but not mainstream tv or cinema..

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120082936#Comment_120082936

I assume the idea is you see it from Farrell's POV because he is the one with the most to lose between friends, sisters and donkeys but I think it would have been much better to explore why Gleeson came to the conclusions he did about life or the very interesting Condon and the sad life of a thoughtful and intellectual woman of that time.

AyeGer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120082561#Comment_120082561

This was the first film I’ve seen by McDonagh, I didn’t know what to expect from it. The film seems to have gone down well with the critics though as is evident from the award nominations. But I didn’t enjoy it when I watched it, it felt bleak, it wasn’t what I was looking for sitting down on a Friday night. Maybe if I had watched it another night on my own I might have seen it differently. I can’t fault the acting though.

Tony EH thanks for the rundown on the film btw.

JP Liz V1

It is film of the year 2022 for me, it represents rural Ireland well, the loneliness, the friendships, music, animals, local pub socialising etc., top class acting performances by all involved

Denny61

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120082965#Comment_120082965

Yes I can see your point...and it is a pity we didn't see more in to gleesons character and background

bodhrandude

Enjoyed this, was hoping though that Padraic was going to learn the bodhran or something like that to have an excuse to sit in at his mates session. :)

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120082455#Comment_120082455

There's certainly more of a comic tone to Banshees than there is in Three Billboards, that's for sure. But in any case, I think, to a lot of people, McDonagh has a peculiar idea of what constitutes comedy, although everyone's idea of what's funny is going to be deeply personal as you say. Out of everything he's done that I've seen, though, the first two thirds of 'In Bruges' remains his funniest effort. I struggled to see any comedy at all in Three Billboards however, although that doesn't mean that it wasn't an enjoyable film.

bogmanfan

My reading of it was that Gleeson's character knew he would never produce a truly great piece of music, and he wanted somebody to blame for that. He knew that Padraic wouldn't be able to comply with his ridiculous ultimatum, and so he could forever more blame Padraic for his inevitable inability to play/compose.

PokeHerKing

I thought it was decent enough.

Watched the killing of a sacred deer the other night with some of same actors, now I thought that was a pile of dung.

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120086379#Comment_120086379

cutting his fingers off didnt stop him from composing.

i agree that 'Colm' probably wasnt as good as he thought he was, that he could leave a piece of work that would immortalise him long after his death, but personally i think the finger slicing was more to do with Colm realising his own mortality and, with the nagging doubt about his actual talent, the reputation of him as the finger slicing fiddler might actually add to his legacy, more than his passable music. Think Van Gogh or beethoven being deaf etc.

sydthebeat

3 golden globe awards last night, including best actor for Farrell and best movie as a musical / comedy.

It was nominated for eight awards, the most for any movie in 19 years

Apothic_Red

I see the Associated Foreign Press decided to heap awards at this last night.

It's like a secret in joke that I'm not party to, surely someone is going to wake me up, did they not see the same crap on the screen that I saw, has the world gone mad.

Atlantic Dawn

As a film I thought it was ok, nothing special but I did love the cinematography and scenery especially when trying to portray it so far back, I didn't see a single thing out of place.

Cluedo Monopoly

Farrell's acceptance speech was good.

He really does love Gleeson. I can't help but think that Gleeson will get annoyed with Farrell's arse licking in real life and start avoiding him or losing fingers 😂

Personally found the movie a bit daft but good luck to them on the awards circuit. It can only be good for Irish cinema and tourism.