The Banshees Of Inisherin

getoutadodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120207056#Comment_120207056

The Yanks (especially the comfy Arts mafia types) love poverty porn. Those immigrants were eating shite in a sow pit before they escaped on a leaky raft to the land of the free and saw toothpaste, cutlery and flushing toilets for the first time. The joy of condescension. Angela's Ashes was a perfect example of this and McCourt milked it well. I hardly think moving from Limerick to teach Leroy and Lateesha in the arse end of Brooklyn was a major improvement on Stab City.

Greyfox

Just finished this, an ordinary story but brilliant acting made this well worth watching

blue note

I flicked through this thread and I'm shocked by the negative response that so many people have had to this film. To be honest I'm saddened by it, I don't think it used to be the case that serious and slow paced films were beyond enjoying for the masses. Now I doubt the majority of people have the patience / attention span for a film like this. I suppose it's just the way the world has gone. People want instant news which is fast and short. You used to buy the paper and read what was in it. People read more in depth articles because they'd bought the paper, they'd made a certain level of commitment. Now people want headlines that grab you and short snappy articles. Albums have lost importance due to the likes of spotify. When you bought an album you'd make sure to give it a chance before you admitted to yourself that you'd spent 20 quid on something that you don't love. Now a lot of people won't even listen to it all the way through before forming an opinion on it. And unfortunately it's the same with movies. People need a much higher amount of stimulation in it to keep their interest.

I thought the film was great and well deserving of the plaudits it's receiving. The first time I saw it I found myself focusing on Colm and his "what's it all about?" epiphany. It's a scary part of life and I found it powerful to see it laid bare as it was. The second time I found myself focusing on Padraig much more. From his point of view it really isn't that different a story from someone who was dumped in a romantic relationship.

I haven't seen Tar, but of what I have seen this year this is certainly the stand out film for me.

saabsaab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120214625#Comment_120214625

I didn't see poverty in it. Now they weren't rich but people in the West had their own turf for heat and cooking, grew their own food mainly had various skills i.e. fishing, makng tools, clothes, poitin etc. They sang, danced and told stories in each others homes and in pubs. Money was sent home from the US too to support those left behind. In short their lives were often far better than those living in the tenements of the cities and large towns.

JKerova1

The last Irish film to get so many academy award nominations was In the Name of the Father with seven. In the Name of the Father is a superior film to Banshees in almost every conceivable way, yet it isn't as fondly remembered as some other Irish films. In my opinion, In the Name of the Father, The Crying Game and My Left Foot are truly great Irish films that have lasted the test of time. I honestly wouldn't put Banshees in my top 20 Irish films. It did nothing for me.

Wompa1

I liked it. It had a unique storyline, amazing cinematography and some excellent acting. I liked it more when I re-watched it at home. I had a very negative reaction to it when I saw it in the cinema. I thought it was too dark but I think it was made worse by the reactions of people around me in the cinema.

maninasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120181715#Comment_120181715

I'm a little familiar with the area that it's based on,I thought the complete lack of irish was a strange omission, some of the dialogue doesn't work aswell in English as in Irish. They would have worn heavier woollen tweeds, caps etc. Kids and some adults would be barefoot quite often. The people were hardier. Fishermen, farmers, labourers.

They would have smoked a lot of pipes. Colm Sonny Larry just doesn't sound right at all to me. They would have just said ColmMacLarry or Colm Larry. The islanders would also use the name of the person then Daidi or Mhaim or a Stor for showing affection, these kinds of terms. It's a different feeling when speaking Irish because Irish and the culture there are an integral part of each other. The islanders would have told a lot more stories, esepcially mythical or ghost stories in each others houses at that time not just news or playing music in the pub. That's how they would pass the time in the evening. They would also sing sean nos. That part of the world was still very steeped in Gaelic culture. That was still happening at least up to the 1960s. So that part is more unreal to me. I'm not sure how much the writer gets Connemara and the Aran islands really. There was a lot more to the native Irish culture than portrayed in the film and I think it could have added to it. They did get right that you would just walk into somebody's house if visiting friends and announce I'm here now. That was the same all over Ireland for rural communities.

But the story itself is quite fascinating and the performances of the four main characters were excellent. Your heart really does go out to Padhraic when he tries to explain what being nice means to him.

flasher0030

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120242397#Comment_120242397

It's a film. It's make-believe. The writers, producers etc are under zero obligations to portray the setting in any way other their owns wishes. Just like King Kong didn't really climb the Empire State Building, and Jurassic Park was not really besieged by dinosaurs.

maninasia

Thats some insight, would never have thought of that myself.

I mean if you are going to place a story on a fictional Aran island in 1920s Ireland you might want to add a few more real flourishes, just my thoughts on the matter.

I liked the story itself, but I don't like that he cut out the old gaelic culture there .

reubenreuben

A bad movie. Considering the analogy,it was disappointing how it described it.

sporina

roll on the Oscars woo hoo - never been excited about them before

Darth Melkor

The scenery was magical. The cinematography was excellent. Solid acting performances, especially from Kerry Condon.

The only negative is the nonsensical script. The new Ireland, "confident, wealthy, mature and post nationalist...the enlightened middle classes are able to digest the allegorical content on a level that the troglodytes just cannot comprehend.

However, conveying an image of our nation populated with idiots and buffoons during the 1920s doesn't sit well with me.

The metaphor used to equate irrational, meaningless violence with the Civil War is insulting to the memories of those that died in the conflict. England of the 1640s saw bloodshed over matters involving sovereignty...absolute monarchy versus the will of the people. America of the 1860s suffered catastrophic levels of death and violence due to its Civil War. But Ireland?.."sure who knows why they're fighting...one side as bad as the other...what's is all about?". Well it's about extremely important matters of sovereignty, accepting pledging loyalty to a British monarch, the partition of our country etc. Also it's about the realisation of some that the negotiated terms could lead on to greater independence and that with limited manpower and supplies it would be near to impossible to carry on fighting etc. Etc. In other words both sides had legitimate concerns and valid motivation for conflict that while extremely sad and regrettable were deemed to be worth fighting for. A Civil War allegory like donkeys living inside houses is demeaning.

Shelga

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120248047#Comment_120248047

That’s a good point actually. I hadn’t thought about it like that before. Clearly, we are meant to draw parallels between the war happening on the mainland, and the stupidity of Colm chopping off his fingers. Otherwise, what’s the point in referencing the civil war at all?

But you’re right- it does seem to blithely infer that it’s all pointless and for nothing, when as you point out, there was a lot at stake. Wonder would McDonagh be so blasé about having Ukraine as the backdrop for his next film.

tobefrank321

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120253702#Comment_120253702

Of course he wouldn't be so blasé. He would never write a screenplay about for example Americans being too dumb to understand the causes of the American Civil War. He'd be laughed out of it in America and slammed by the American critics for writing something so demeaning and offensive.

But writing it about Ireland and the Irish is ok.

The film hinges almost entirely on the Irish being thick and stupid, and simpletons who don't even understand what their civil war is or was about. Its about as offensive as you can get. But a part of me thinks its McDonagh who is the simpleton. He clearly fails to understand what the Irish civil war was about and he projects this ignorance onto his characters.

JP Liz V1

Barry and Kerry have won Baftas even if Kerry named Carey

stargazer 68

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120262479#Comment_120262479

Fantastic achievement for all involved

Larbre34

G'wan Kerry Condon girl, she was brilliant, a fierce pivot for the madness all around her.

Her scene letting down Barry Keoghan's character was a cinematic classic.

Larbre34

And Barry. Wow. Brilliant.

I never cared for him in any screen role before this, but in Banshees he broke my heart and I'm a 40s bloke.

Man Vs ManUre

I liked all 6 acting performances in this film (including the banshee and the guard) , Farrell was standout and Condon next, but I think Brendan Gleeson was definitely a better supporting performance than Barry.

Jarhead_Tendler

Yes I have to say I enjoyed this too. Really interesting film with some nice scenery. Well worth the watch.

Man Vs ManUre

Barry was even better in ‘the killing of the sacred deer’ which is a very strange but decent film.

evolvingtipperary101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120248047#Comment_120248047

That island would make any cinematographer look like a genius.

sporina

woooooo hooooooo

gmisk

Done very well at the Baftas.

Kerry Condon well deserved especially. Broadcast seemed a oddly edited though...seemingly a bit of a snafu with the sign language translation it had originally given it to someone else!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I got around to seeing this last week and thought it was alright. I'm not a huge fan of either McDonagh or their Irish based work (the brother is worse), but I thought it was grand. A decent enough story, two great leads, and aside from some terrible dialogue not much to complain about.

What I am surprised about though is that Keoghan and Condon are genuine contenders at the awards, to be honest. No offence to them, but I didn't see anything worth writing home about from either of them. I'm delighted for them all, obviously, but Farrell is really the only one I'd have thought would feature in this year's race.

jobrien874ie

Yeah I enjoyed it - not as much as In Bruges but it was different, a little bit weird but enjoyable

Caquas

I can't remember a film falling so short of my expectations (which weren't high in the first place 🤨 )

It simply wasn't funny even when it was obviously stretching for a laugh and the blacker parts were just weird in an unpleasant way.

The scenery was impressive but that's hardly to the credit of the film-makers. The thatched cottage on the beach was my only laugh - the first winter storm, and that roof is on the other side of the island. And what was with the collection of masks - a passing African trawler with Kabuki theatre?

The actors did their best with very weak material. Trying to inject humour by shouting their lines and sprinkling them with "fecking". Kerry Condon deserves an Oscar for keeping a straight face and powering through this drivel.

There were constant references to the Civil War but what was its relevance to the plot? Were we to think that the Civil War was like two old friends falling out for no good reason? That would be the stupidest analysis of the Civil War that I've heard during its Centenary.

Was the policeman some weird RIC holdover? In 1923! I can picture the Old Hag of Beara saying "There'll be a death on Inisheerin this month. And the Banshees will win the best British film this year."

cdgalwegian

Any play brought to the screen will test your tolerance for the bringing to the screen of the different narrative medium. Things will inevitably get lost in translation, no matter what re-tooling is done to the original to make it fit into the different screen sensibilities and expectations. And not even knowing that this film was based on a play will bring out obvious ideas of artistic flair, negative or positive. I have tried various types of plays, and I don’t like them. But I often wonder how the ideas behind them that I liked might have fared if transferred to the screen, where the uncomfortableness of the viscerality of the stage, as well as other factors, would be absent. Mostly, the transferral doesn’t really work (if critic’s reviews have any objective standing), but are still worthy of the attempt – both in bringing a good drama to the screen, as well as bringing a different artistic sensiblility/flair to the mainstream that an artistic non-play original screenplay might bring. Generally, a well-received play will automatically draw actors of a good calibre when its being made into a film- it usually makes good awards bait.

Though it does bring to the table a better appreciation of what I am missing in the viscerality of a play, The Banshees of Inisherin will not get me going back to see plays. However, it does bring out the more philosophical elements through symbolism and absurdism that I’d like to see a bit more of in films. Maybe the success of it will make more of well-received play adaptations likely, which I’d like to see.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120312748#Comment_120312748

Banshees wasn't a play?

Bigus

I was a lot more impressed on my second viewing, felt disappointed first time round , but entranced on second viewing , things I missed first time , was how really really annoying Colin Farrell’s character was to Brendan Gleeson and how he just kept persisting and persisting, to everyones detriment.

how funny Barry Keoghan was ,(Daddy doesn’t like to be disturbed when he’s **** ) and how good the sister was at portraying frustration.