Review: The Banshees Of Inisherin

Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures.

Set in 1923 against the backdrop of the Irish civil war, Martin McDonagh's mordantly funny and strangely moving "The Banshees of Inisherin" details the sudden dissolution of a friendship between the somber fiddler Colm (Brendan Gleeson) and the amiable milk farmer Padraic (Colin Farrell). It all starts when, one day apropos of nothing, Padraic drops by his old friend's house to see if he wants to join him at the local pub on their desolate island, but cannot find him.

Padraic's mournful but book-smart sister, Siobhan (Kerry Conlan), suggests jokingly to her brother that "maybe he just don't like you no more," but Padraic is still shocked when, upon finally tracking Colm down, he is told exactly that. Colm says that he has been considering his own mortality and that he has decided to spend his time trying to create something lasting - such as the songs he writes and plays on his fiddle - rather than wasting his time on small talk with a "dull" man like Padraic.

But Padraic is mystified by Colm's casual cruelty in the matter and can't let it go, continuously approaching Colm and asking why he refuses to talk to him anymore. This finally leads the exasperated Colm to tell Padraic that if he doesn't stop bugging him, he'll begin to cut off his own fingers - which could be a challenge for a fiddle player - and leaving them at Padraic's doorstep. 

Colm's threats of self-mutilation mirror that of the civil war raging in the backdrop - we occasionally hear shots fired from neighboring islands but never see any action - in that a war on one's own home turf is itself a self-inflicted wound.

Focusing on themes of isolation, mortality, despair and the virtue of niceness, "The Banshees of Inisherin" could have quickly become a downer if it weren't for McDonagh's typically hilarious dialogue as well as the brilliant comedic pairing of Gleeson and Farrell - who reunite here after producing similarly impressive work in McDonagh's film debut, "In Bruges" - and some strong supporting performances by Conlan and Barry Keoghan as Dominic, a blunt young man whose father is the abusive island policeman - who also mistreats Padraic - and who becomes Padraic's only friend once Colm cuts him loose.

As Colm and Padraic's feud - if that's the right word for it - begins to escalate, others stand by and watch either with horror (Siobhan) or bemusement (the island's fortune teller, Mrs. McCormick, played by Sheila Flitton). Gleeson plays Colm as an exasperated, seemingly depressed man who views his time on earth as fleeting and wants to make something worthwhile of it, while Farrell's Padraic is a simpler soul who just can't let go of the fact that an old friend could drop him without good reason. Their story plays as a tragedy, of sorts, although it's often too funny to be depressing.

Originally a playwright, McDonagh's work as a director - after the marvelous debut "In Bruges" - has gone from being pulpy ("Seven Psychopaths") to weighty ("Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri") to downbeat gallows humor ("Banshees"). 

Some might read his latest film as some sort of treatise on the state of the world - cruelty for the sake of it, the loss of the sense of right and wrong behavior, burgeoning civil strife and escalating tensions, and the film does have a timely feel to it, although the desolate Irish locale, gloomy self critiquing and behaviors of its lead characters are specific enough to think twice about whether McDonagh is actually commenting on the current state of things. 

Regardless, "The Banshees of Inisherin" is one of his finest works as a director and one of the year's most memorable films.