On 'The Banshees of Inisherin'
Cover picture: a Banshee watching over Colm and Pádraic walking away from one another
By Carli Jacobsen
Martin McDonagh’s work is recognisable as a masterpiece at the first string of Colm’s violin. The film tells of the relationship between who suddenly begins to imagine a future greater than one that has Pádraic in it. Only in the final minutes of the film did I come to terms with Pádraic and Colm’s relationship to be a stab at the Irish Civil War: After endless threats by finger(s), and countless attempts from Padraic to reunite with Colm, a war between the two men begins. By the closing scene, one may have completely forgotten why exactly they were fighting in the first place.
Pádraic (Colin Farrell) on the right and Colm (Brendan Gleeson) on the left
It took a moment to decipher exactly who plays the Protestant and who plays the Catholic, yet Pádraic and Siobhan's (Kerry Condon) dedication to the Sunday mass and the Banshee, being Mrs. McCormick (Sheila Flitton), whom they host for the occasional dinner, while Colm has doubt over the oracle telling of the Banshee and struggles to identify sin in his own life during his confessions. Although this is confirmed by Pádraic’s slagging of Colm’s mispronunciation of Irish phrases and his high regard for Mozart, claiming Colm has begun to sound Anglo. And when Pádraic places the ultimatum to resolve the friendship, or burn Colm’s house at 2pm, it is a mirrored moment on the 27th June 1922 when Michael Collins' ultimatum to the four garrison to surrender before 4am. At 4:15 on the 28th June, Collins bombarded the Four courts with a pair of British field guns.
Colm’s house burning
McDonagh embarks you on a journey of brilliant orchestra, cinematic candy of rolling hills and cliffsides, and a dark humour of catholic mockery that is reminiscent of the 2016-2019 dry witted Fleabag series, produced by, written by, and starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who also happens to be McDonagh’s partner. The Banshees of Inisherin is a beautifully conducted period piece who’s meaning transcends in time frame, making one laugh and perhaps cry through moments of hostility, rejection and revenge that cannot be separated from the ongoings of personal battles and conflicts in contemporary politics.