In Martin McDonagh’s commentary on male friendship, the writer/director gives two long-time drinking buddies plenty of fodder in this dark comedy. Seeing Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson go to head-to-head take their war of words to the next level is something to behold.
When he wrote this, McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and In Bruges) was reportedly thinking about a failed relationship of his own. Even though he had finished the script before the Pandemic, it seemed even more relevant as people were forced to isolate from each other when COVID hit.
The story is set on Inisherin, a small, fictional island off the West coast of Ireland in the 1920’s during the Irish civil war. The sound of bombs in the distance is a little disquieting, yet the island locals don’t seem much concerned. Banshees is the last in a trilogy of plays about Inisherin, but the only one produced as a film.
Pádraic Súilleabháin (Farrell) is a cordial, but relatively dull bloke who relishes his time sitting at the bar or across the table on regular basis with elder statesman, Colm Doherty (Gleeson). All of a sudden, Pádraic is odd man out. This is no mutual decision. Colm bluntly ignores him saying he does not want to engage in conversation, nor drink with the younger man ever again.
This sets Farrell’s character on a course chasing Colm, hell-bent on finding out,”What did I do?” Smartly, McDonagh doesn’t let on whether there was some specific incident and that peaked our curiosity. Colm continually ignores and berates him, just wanting Pádraic to leave him alone.
Pádraic turns to his sister, Siobhan (Kerry Condon). She’s the smart, level-headed one in this film, who tries to be compassionate listening to her brother. She is well-read, and a book-lover, but her days are relegated to taking care of the house and the only family they seem to have. There’s no mention of their parents.
Women are pretty powerless in this 1920’s era, dominated by men and the Church. Pádraic has his own quirks. Turns out his real best friend is his donkey, Jenny, who follows wherever he goes. McDonagh makes the donkey a key element that becomes even more important later in the film, both for comedy and tragedy.
Cinematographer Ben Davis has shot Marvel action movies including Captain Marvel and Dr. Strange along with The King’s Man and Eternals. In this movie he uses the lens to tell the story of a simple life lived at a relaxed pace. The camera mostly follows Pádraic and Colm as they walk between home and the pub. McDonagh and Davis take a landscape that is not naturally beautiful and make the long, narrow gravel roads and grassy fields feel comfortable. The people in the town see what’s going on between the two and Pádraic gets insight from Mrs. McCormick (Sheila Flitton), the old woman who foretells the future, a banshee herself. But it’s the closeups of the two men and Siobhan that generate the energy of the film. Every line on Gleeson’s face and the concerned angle of Farrell’s bushy eyebrows tell what’s going on in the mind.
Colm finally angrily tells Pádriaic exactly how he feels. Is Colm going a little nuts or is he having an existential crisis? Thinking his life is passing him by, Colm decides that he wants to leave some kind of mark on the world and thinks it will be through his music. Gleeson is quite accomplished on the fiddle and mandolin having recorded albums and he puts on a show here in the pub. But is his music more important than being a good friend? When push comes to shove, Colm wants his friend to leave him alone so bad, he threatens to do himself bodily harm, out of frustration, if Pádraic doesn’t start taking him seriously. He just doesn’t want to waste any more time sitting and talking with this bloke.
Pádraic, in his simple, but profound way, believes that being a nice person and good friend is enough. He slowly learns through the progress of the story line, that, to Colm, it isn’t enough to earn his respect. McDonagh leaves it up to us to decide if it is or not.
When this relationship turns lethal, an element of horror enters the mix, but McDonagh still finds ways to elicit laughter. Colm and Pádraic might have started out as best-buds sharing “bro-hugs”, but there is a toxic aspect of male friendship that is revealed here. There’s also parental abuse shown in the relationship between Gary Lyon (Constable Peadar Kearney) and his son Dominic (Barry Keoghan) with unexpected results. Dominic is a young man who isn’t very smart, but just wants to find some kindness and tenderness in the way he’s treated which always seems out of his reach. Although set in the 1920’s, this film touches on attitudes and issues reflected today.
McDonagh, having these two accomplished actors team up again 14 years after their turn in In Bruges is a must see. You wouldn’t think that McDonagh having two men ignoring each other would be a compelling a storyline, but it is. Farrell and Gleeson play off each other so well. They hope McDonagh doesn’t wait another 14 years to pair them together again and we agree.
Searchlight Pictures. 1 hour 49 minutes R
HBO Max
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