The Banshees Of Inisherin

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119818692#Comment_119818692

It's symptomatic of how cinema has changed: more and more the concept of "going to the cinema" is basically a shorthand for a stationery theme-park ride; with associated thrills, ups-and-downs and that sense of redundancy & superficiality. Like you, that's not meant as a knock or being po-faced, 'cos I'll go to bat for plenty of blockbusters - including the much-maligned (often by myself) Marvel franchise. But what it has meant is that going to be "challenged" by something with mature themes or execution has kinda fallen by the wayside. Even as recently as a 90s, box-office hits were adult thrillers - not always intellectual by any stretch, but still mature entertainment.

You also got that problem where something a little more art-house gets pushed into mainstream discourse as an Important Work of Art. It gets the kind of traction those kind of films almost never receive, for whatever reason. Often it's purely the fault of the marketing, badging the thing as something more crowd-pleasing than it truly is. Maybe it's a famous director; maybe a "star" actor headlines it; maybe there's a controversy surrounding it all. Maybe it's a really weird adaptation of a Batman villain people think will be an Incel Rally Cry. In any case: invariably it struggles to resonate with a viewing public expecting something else. Understandably so.

tayto lover

I saw a trailer for this and it looked awful with those silly accents that sounded like the Field. Won't be wasting my time watching this.

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119823761#Comment_119823761

Why bother even posting then???

cmac2009

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119823809#Comment_119823809

Well, for the last couple of weeks I've been wondering whether tayto lover would go to see it, or would he just judge the whole film from the trailer. Glad he let us know as it's important to get some reviews based off the trailer alone.

murpho999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119823761#Comment_119823761

Ridiculous opinion and logic.

The accents in both films were genuine. Nothing silly about them at all.

Some of the posts here about this movie are bizarre to say the least.

Banshee's is one of the best films I've seen this year and I was thinking about it for days after. Also give me a sort of sad/melancholic feeling which for me is a sure sign of a good movie experience as it has touched you in a way.

This is unlike most films that people flock to nowadays that you just forget about as soon as you finish your popcorn.

osarusan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119802628#Comment_119802628

I felt the same...was on the edge of being a great great film but fell short. I thought the humour detracted from the film's momentum, and some of the jokes were quite cheap. Jon Kenny didn't need to be in it at all - just a bit of patter with Pat Shortt really, and it's a flaw of many Irish films to try and find a role for one or two too many well-known Irish actors.

Likewise, I didn't realy see the point of the old woman (I forget her name) acting as a portent of doom or whatever...her appearances seemed fairly contrived and didn't really add anthing to the narrative.

In general I thought the acting excellent. I felt that Kerry Condon was superb, was disappointed her relationship with her brother wasn't explored more, or the impact of her leaving. Unlike some on here, I didn't think Farrell was all that good, until his character finally developed a bit of drive and purpose, then he was fine. Before that, he didn't play the aimless character all that well I thought.

billyhead

I thought the first half was good but than it went a bit weird with the fingers and dragged out.

murpho999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119824107#Comment_119824107

I found the old woman to be key to the whole thing and I took out of it that she was the Banshee and death.

She certainly added a lot to the narrative.

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119824408#Comment_119824408

That's how I took it as well.

HildaOgdenx

Going to see it next week. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson were on the Graham Norton show recently and the clip piqued my interest.

Looking forward to it.

starkid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119823741#Comment_119823741

actually the reality is the audience of today has far more understanding of visual grammar than in any time of history given the abundance of shows and streaming etc. its not necessarily a demand for action. its why a modern day terence malick film would leave most people cold (compared to his three classic films)

Some people do still go to be entertained of course.

There's a hell of a lot of reverse snobbery going on in modern cinema as well. this is a very good film. Very original, and very much all story driven. Very fine acting. Some lovely shots. I've heard some go over the top here as well though.

The Field covered some of this ground before, but wasn't well recieved in America due to its take on Ireland. would this film succeed without its humour? i have an issue with how Irish cinema is percieved. Could you make an Irish type revenant set in Ireland. you could, but like Black 47 (underfunded, overlooked) it wouldn't do that well. The Irish need to be good craic etc. It suits McDonagh etc, but give me the visuals and raw realism of lenny abrahamson any day.even his black humor is laced with better visuals than this. But he isn't internationally lauded by the cinema lovelys/darlings. again perhaps this is centred in the reality that McDonagh is percieved as partly English outside of this Island.

The film owes a hell of a lot to Irish tropes itself.

I really enjoyed it, did i love it? i don't think i did. and i love a good arthouse/art/thinking mans film.

The lake, the woman, the overall lingering sadness was great. I didn't find it dark at all. Ireland is full of darkness.

rogber

Saw this last night and found it very disappointing .

Take a bit of Synge, a bit of Beckett, a bit of Father Ted, a bit of Tarantino, humour with all the sophistication of Beavis and Butthead, an utterly feeble and contrived plot and characters you'd be flattering to call one dimensional, throw them together with some lush landscape shots, a bit of austere classical music during the "profound" bits, tone that like every McDonagh film lurches wildly from serious to farce, and a nice blend of paddywhackery mixed in with mystical Ireland and you get this mess.

Reminds me of the worst of McDonagh's theatre, like A Skull in Connemara. Two boring fellas arguing over nothing with absolutely nothing at stake, horribly stagey dialogue and utterly juvenile humour.

In Bruges and 3 Billboards were both better, and that's not saying much.

JP Liz V1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119824408#Comment_119824408

She had predicted two deaths so yes I took it she was the Banshee

weadick

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119828874#Comment_119828874

Finally someone who agrees with me! I also saw A Skull in Connemara and thought the same, very similar.

tayto lover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119823809#Comment_119823809

It's my opinion, Believe it or not that's what Boards is about.

Beechwoodspark

I’ve talked about this with approx 10 ppl who’ve seen it

8 thought it was rubbish

1 said meh

1 liked it - sorry now but he is known as the village idiot of the group

make of that what you will

Beechwoodspark

The best comment from them was

”Mcdonagh is a cockney plastic paddy who hawks wetherspoons Beckett and expects plaudits for it”

wetherspoons Beckett!!

johnny_ultimate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119829916#Comment_119829916

If I was person number ten and being called ‘the village idiot’ in person and online for the grave offence of liking a film, I think I’d be more than entitled to follow Colm’s example.

cezanne

I liked it saw in Galway paid 30 quid for two tickets thankfully the film was great but 30 quid thats a lot.

cmac2009

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119829923#Comment_119829923

There's the nub of it I suspect.

Hippodrome Song Owl

I saw it this afternoon, and not fully sure how I feel about it tbh. I knew it would be dark, but that is an understatement of just how bleak it is. I feel bereft, filled with despair, sorrow, grief, and hopelessness after watching it.

I've actually never seen any of McDonagh's films before (or his brother's), but loved the Beauty Queen of Leenane.

I can see why people are making comparisons to The Field alright - I'm not a fan of that film, though the play is a masterpiece. But I don't feel The Field resonates personally with me at all. Although I can recognise it as an authentic portrayal of rural Ireland of its time (and sadly still relevant in many ways), it feels as alien to me as any Hollywood blockbuster. But this story really struck a chord, despite my modern urban experience.

Barry Keoghan's performance was really something special I think.

Brock Turnpike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119829916#Comment_119829916

I make of it that you made that whole post up.

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119830100#Comment_119830100

It's closer to twenty pounds a go here. Disgusting when there's no effort at all spent on throwing out morons on their phones.

Thankfully, I got a free ticket with my bank and the film was actually really good.

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119829885#Comment_119829885

It wasn't an opinion, though. Also, visiting a corner of the Internet where people are discussing a particular film just to inform them that you have no intention of seeing said film is a rather strange thing to do.

But if that's what you think "Boards is about" then have at it, I suppose.

nullObjects

If the whole thing had been just views of the island I still would have went to see it, some great shots.

Thought the actors all gave great performances in it, the dark humour with the fingers wasn't really my thing but overall thought it was a good movie.

flasher0030

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119823761#Comment_119823761

Someone else made a comment that this post is strange, and in fairness, you have to agree. Do you go onto every topic on Boards that you have no interest in, and advise the readers that you have no interest in said topic. Do you spot the cricket forun adn proclim to the world that you have no interest in going to a cricket mqatch because it looks boring. Or a Westlife forum to advise us all that you won't be going to their gig, cause you don't like them. If not, then why tell us you won't be going to see a movie. Nobody cares if you don't. It's zero relevance anybody reading here. Instead of posting something strange and irrelevant, why not use that time to post something productive about what you have seen, and what your opinion is of that movie.

saabsaab

If there was a remake of 'The Field' I could see Brendan Gleeson getting the 'Bull McCabe' part.

rogber

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119829923#Comment_119829923

Excellent comment. Why the critics love it I don't know. Sells a marketable version of Ireland - green and mystical - and the Irish - dim but nice?

saabsaab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119834064#Comment_119834064

Nice? A few quare hawks in this movie.

tayto lover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119832112#Comment_119832112

Some great ideas for me going forward. Thanks.

thefallingman

great movie, I think it’s farrels best acting performance

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119833573#Comment_119833573

It would be very difficult to top Harris's performance in Sheridan's film.

But if there was a remake, I'd like it to stick closer to Keane's play than the 1990 version did.

Tony EH

@Hippodrome Song Owl

I saw it this afternoon, and not fully sure how I feel about it tbh. I knew it would be dark, but that is an understatement of just how bleak it is. I feel bereft, filled with despair, sorrow, grief, and hopelessness after watching it.

Maybe that was the point?

Isn't it nice to actually feel something after walking out of a film? As opposed to "well, I just saw that..."

saabsaab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119836339#Comment_119836339

His performance was good but I feel he overacted it a bit?

Spon Farmer

A great movie with fantastic performances and a sad heartbreaking story is not at all what I was expecting.

Kerry Condon stole every scene she was in and Barry Keoghan finally played a role other than a same face slouching mumbler - and was great,

I had assumed at first that Peader had killed Jenny because the tongue was on the ground. Did she bite off her own tongue when choking on the finger or was not the tongue on the ground?

I don’t remember Dominic telling Pádraig that his father was molesting him. Is that just something Pádraig made up when he was drunk?

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119845666#Comment_119845666

I didn't see her tongue on the ground? One of Colm's fingers was beside her and Padraig found another one in her mouth.

Dominic didn't tell Padraig about the abuse, Padraig either guessed or inferred it.

Spon Farmer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119845690#Comment_119845690

There was something else on the ground and I was sure it was a tongue.

You say ”guess” and “inferred” and that seems to suggest that you think the story was indeed saying that Peader was a molester? I was thinking that he made up in drunkenness and saying it was Pádraig a first step of into the badness that has him by the end of the film.

Banahees in the title made it obvious there would be death and when it was clear that Colm wasn’t terminally ill - which is what unthought it was going to be about - I thought that the various events were going to lead to Siobhan being killed.

Call me Al

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119829923#Comment_119829923

Plaudits?

Well indeed I'm sure such scathing language as this will cut McDonagh to the bone, as he has his staff polish his BAFTAs, Oscar and Golden Globes on the mantelpiece.

He seems to be doing rather well for a "Wetherspoons Beckett".

buried

Went to see this over the weekend and I have to say, even though I went in with not much hope, I thought it was a great piece of work. I don't rate a lot of McDonagh's work but this is the best film he's done for sure. The whole thing just fantastically deals with some of the darkest aspects of rural Ireland. It leads you along at the beginning with some lighthearted laughs on its surface, then the more you delve into the thing it drags you into the abyss of the undercurrent and the actual reality. Keoghan is brilliant in this, I mean really brilliant. The story is basically about his character really, he's the best of them and he's basically ostracized from the insular community and also abused by his father. I was also totally wrong about there being no portrayal of the bean sídhe in this work, although the trailer brilliantly leaves any hint of it out. The character of Mrs. McCormick is the bean sídhe, beckoning the victim they want into the lake, then later informing the family. Both traits of the other crowd.

Was a great watch and I was totally and pleasantly wrong in having no hope for it. Was such a pleasure to go to the cinema, enjoy the whole thing without having to check my watch, hoping the thing would be over. Will try to go watch it again for sure.

HildaOgdenx

Saw it on Tuesday.

Very powerful, dark as I think a lot of McDonagh's work is - although I'm more familiar with his plays than his films.

Stunning scenery, absolutely magnificent.

I thought all the main parts were very well portrayed. Dominic's story broke my heart. Jon Kenny and Pat Shortt briefly reincarnated as D'Unbelievables didn't add very much, imo.

And I don't know about anyone else but I was begging Padraic (in my head 😁) to stay away from Colm after the first finger was chopped, I had to look away from the screen a few times.

But overall, very powerful, dark and sad with occasional unexpected humour too. I wandered out of the cinema a bit dazed, still very much caught up in the story.

timmyntc

A great watch - much more like a theatre drama than some of McDonaghs other films.

I thought the civil war backdrop worked ok - I assume it was deliberately chosen to reflect on the "civil war" between Colm and Padraic. Many references to how they barely knew who was fighting who or for what - the same futility in Colm's actions, cutting off your nose to spite your face

Keoghans character was great, and his whole story arc beginning with him finding the hook-on-a-stick and culminating with him being found by the banshee who uses it to fish him out of the water, very sad. You wouldn't think at all from the first meeting with him that you would have any sympathy for his character.

I would watch it again, but not for a long while. It's not like a thrill ride of a film, more like a stage drama. You would want to forget some of the plot before going back to rewatch.

JKerova1

I thought it was rubbish to be honest. I swore after A Skull in Connemara I'd never watch a McDonagh play or film again. Wish I'd stuck to my guns!

DrumSteve

I thought it was a really good, did a really good job of portraying someone who basically can't handle rejection and moves on from that.

All the leads were excellent though I will admit I found it hard to understand Keoghan at times for some reason.

I feel like it's the type of story that could really be transposed anywhere and work.

Condon was defo the stand out for me in this though, absolutely excellent.

saabsaab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119868667#Comment_119868667

Yes. I guess it's about rejection and how it is seen by the rejected and rejectee. Had it happen to me years ago, told by my friend that he didn't want to see me no more. I was shocked but had to accept it after trying a few times to turn him around.

murpho999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119858975#Comment_119858975

I think if you're going in for a dislike of McDonagh's work then your mind is made up already and you're never going to like it no matter what you see.

I have the same confirmation bias with people like Meryl Streep or Jennifer Aniston but sometimes you have to drop that and judge it on its own merits and therefore I have enjoyed some of Streep's work, (can't think of anything good with Aniston though 😀).

Still think Banshee is one of the films of the year and I think rewards season will reflect that but I can understand why some people don't like these character driven story pieces.

Fysh

Finally managed to catch this at the cinema yesterday and very glad I did; while a lot of the appeal of McDonagh's films for me is the dialogue, the landscape shots in this were stunning and worth seeing on a bigger screen.

The central performances were excellent, and I agree with others upthread that Kerry Condon stole every scene she was in. I really liked the humour in it, particularly in some of the exchanges between Colm and Páiric (shades of In Bruges occasionally).

Spoiler Warning

I keep thinking about the conversation in the pub where a fairly-lubricated Páiric lashes out at Colm and makes a heartfelt, if maybe unsophisticated, case for the merits of being nice, while Colm fairly coldly talks about artistic legacy. That exchange left me thinking about why each of the characters feels the way they do, and what has happened to make them feel that way. Páiric has clearly been content living his life with one day being much the same as the next, and indeed cannot or will not tolerate any significant change to that sameness. While we don't know much about Colm's past, it's clear something has happened to focus his attention on what he will be remembered for - but the way he talked about musicians and artists being remembered made me wonder why he cares so much about the opinions of people he'll never know, over the opinions of people in his community. His rejection of Páraic's friendship struck me as being at least partly a matter of projection, in that he sees in Páraic his own behaviour and traits that will, if continued, leave no legacy after his death. Whereas Páraic, after one of the most emotionally devastating days of his life, comes to reflect Colm's stubborn commitment to disproportionate response and lack of concern for himself.

Ultimately I think the most insightful of the lot of them was Siobhán, in part for the "You're all boring" rant she gives Colm (who has never bothered to cultivate her friendship, for all his talk about not having time for "dull people") and in part for acting on the realisation that she'll only find happiness by leaving the island. Dominic is clearly a lot sharper than most of the islanders give him credit for, albeit abrasive and losing the run of himself at times - but that sharpness means he can see what his future is likely to be, the lakeside conversation with Siobhán and her subsequent departure serving as confirmation.

tibruit

I didn`t really get what all the fuss was about Barry Keoghan before now, but he was great in this. Very authentic when compared to how John Hurt or John Mills hammed up that type of character on screen in the past. His scene with Kerry Condon by the lake really got to the heart of the futility of his existence.

Cluedo Monopoly

I watched it last night. I enjoyed it but something felt off about it. Not sure exactly why. It was like I was watching a play that had been forced onto the big screen. Some excellent performances. Intriguing film, I would watch it again.

growleaves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119829923#Comment_119829923

Clever. Although the mandatory acclamation of Beckett is deserving of scrutiny in itself.

As far as I'm aware, Con Houlihan and John Dolan are the only literary critics who have dared to question Beckett's greatness.

saabsaab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119925001#Comment_119925001

Who's Beckett?