No. 102 (2022) THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN Dec. 10th.

 

Film No. 102 (2022)  December  10th.  11.00 AM   Cinema 1.  LUNA,  Leederville.

 

"You didn't do anything to me. I just don't like you any more". (Colm reacts to Padraic's plea in trying to understand what he's done to upset his friend). 

Winner : Best Actor (Colin Farrell); Best Screenplay (Martin McDonagh)  Venice Film Festival 2022.

I'm not sure I've seen a better anti-war film than THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN in recent times. All versions of ALL'S QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT are brilliant, but they take us to war and are re-enactments of war. THE BANSHEES does not, but its representation of the futility of the escalation of human dispute had me muttering "For F*ck sake, kiss and make-up and be done with it" on numerous occasions, reinforcing my initial summation.

With In Bruges(2008), director Martin McDonagh took us on a dark, often comic journey, featuring  Colin Farrell and Brendon Gleeson as hit-men hiding in close quarters, in Belgium . The film remains in my all-time top twenty. BANSHEES revisits similar tropes but delivers a more powerful punch. So while Padraic (Farrell) and Colm (Gleeson) dominate the focus in this play for the screen, it's the brilliance the bit players, Siobhan (Kerry Condon) and Dominic (Barry Keoghan) add, that expands our emotional investment. The windswept coastal scene where Dominic nervously expresses his feelings for Siobhan will remain with me for some time.  

So what if your best friend was to say to you "I don't like you anymore" and it turns out that it was nothing you have done or said? They just don't like you anymore and they wish for you never to speak to them again. And what if you both live on a small island off mainland Ireland in the only community that exists there?  Oh, and it is 1923 not the digital age of 2022. Your country is also at war  internally, over sovereignty. You are likely to be deeply hurt and upset. Padraic is exactly in this predicament, he's hurt and upset that Colm has suddenly cut him off. Which begs the question - can friendship be ended one-sidedly without some form of repercussion?

McDonagh is described as less a film-maker than a playwright, THREE BILLBOARDS excluded. So his detail to script and translation, via actor, is faultless here. The thing about BANCHEES is his choice of stage and backdrop. His choice, the Aran Islands off Galway, exemplifies McDonagh's genius. The rugged beauty depicting fictional INISHERIN lures us at first with its tranquillity but with every scene the harshness of the surrounds goes to amplify the escalation of disruption between Padraic and Colm. For me, McDonagh comes of age as a film-maker with THE BANCHEES OF INISHERIN.  11GUMS.