The Banshees Of Inisherin

Akrasia · 11-01-2023 10:12am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120082253#Comment_120082253

This is the point I was trying to make (hamfistedly)

This is an objectively well made, well acted, very well shot, well directed movie.

It is not 'a steaming pile of sh1t' as someone so eloquently put it.

I was called a snob earlier. One of my favourite films is Real Steel so that probably gets me evicted from the snob booth at elites bar and restaurant.

I was getting annoyed by the toxic comments on this thread. People who came on here to sh1t on a good film that they didn't like.

I don't think it's the greatest film ever made. I enjoyed it. My wife watched it again and I didn't rewatch it with her. I'll probably rewatch it again in a few years.

The reason why I asked if people watched it 'properly' is because the humour is both absurd and subtle. Its not killinaskully, if you're 'multi tasking' you could miss a lot

And it was a question, not an accusation

pixelburp · 11-01-2023 10:18am

The only awards ceremony I respect less than the Oscars are the Golden Globes; whose methodology and thinking is so bereft of reality, I cringe each year they get media traction. Those years with no Golden Globes; it was great.

Banshees is "Best Musical or Comedy"? It's a patently ludicrous category in the first instance - not least because IIRC The Martian won in that section fadó. But whatever else this film was, it was scarcely a comedy by genre. Gallows humour inflected throughout the script but not really something as ostensibly comedic as that stupid category merging would imply.

Gusser09 · 11-01-2023 10:21am

The arty crowd really are strange. A good watch no doubt but out of ten id be giving it 7.

A lot of bullshit in it but the people who vote in the awards love all of that kind of stuff.

McFly85 · 11-01-2023 10:39am

I loved it. I watched it a couple of weeks ago and I still find myself thinking about it the odd time. As a character piece it was totally engaging and the setting looked absolutely stunning.

It has been talked to death but I loved seeing how the characters saw themselves as opposed to who they were. Colm a man suddenly consumed with legacy and dreams of being remembered as a musician and the other a man who is identifies as an affable, openly happy with his simple repetitive island life. In reality, I see Colm as a man who was just as happy with his life as Padraic until very recently, while Padraic is vehemently against change. Colm resents Padraic for everything he hates about himself, so pushes him away. Padraics world falls apart as the film progresses with every major relationship in his life breaking down.

I did find it very funny at times, not in an American Oirish way, just very good Irish humour. I don’t know why but my favourite bit was when Padraic called the old woman a nutbag and she repeats it while bursting out laughing!

There were some brilliantly tense scenes too, the silent cart ride back with Colm and Padraic after he was punched or just the scene where they passed eachother on the road with Padraic continually looking back, I was desperate for him to keep quiet!

Delighted it’s getting all the plaudits, well deserved in my opinion.

johnny_ultimate · 11-01-2023 10:42am

The Golden Globes are the crappiest of awards. But I do hope Colin Farrell goes on to win the Oscar as I think he well deserves it. He had a stellar year with this and the excellent After Yang, and as one critic pointed out (I think it was Guy Lodge) it's a particular relief that he's managed to do some of his very best work in films that aren't standard historical biopics or whatever. After Yang was a muted, subtle performance, but I loved that he got to go big and funny here while still conveying plenty of dramatic pathos.

P.S. the film is absolutely a comedy 🤓

murpho999 · 11-01-2023 11:08am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120092957#Comment_120092957

No but maybe you should learn that not everybody watches and judges a film the same way you do.

Banshees deserves all the praise and awards it recieves. For me it was my favourite film of 2022 but that's my personal opinion.

StevenToast · 11-01-2023 11:23am

Good or bad, the fawning over this film by RTE would sicken you.

Oh look, foreign people like something Irish. HEADLINE NEWS!

Man Vs ManUre · 11-01-2023 11:59am

I predict that Colin Farrell will NOT win the Oscar. They love biopics and musicals, and Elvis is probably the biggest music star ever in US. The Elvis fella will win it.

sydthebeat · 11-01-2023 12:01pm

good to see typical old irish begrudgery is alive and well in 2023

osarusan · 11-01-2023 12:14pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120093042#Comment_120093042

Like any piece of art, I don't really think you can say that the film is 'objectively' anything. It's massively subjective.

The fact that opinions on this film range from 'best Irish film in years' to 'steaming pile of dung' highlights that.

PropJoe10 · 11-01-2023 12:15pm

I'm sure McDonagh and people apparently more intelligent than me will see this film as some sort of grand artistic statement, or some sort of metaphor for the the modern world, but I found the film absolutely horrible to watch. Good cinematography, lovely panoramic shots of rural Ireland. Decent acting. But one of the most depressing storylines I think I've ever seen in a film. I respect people's views and fair play to anyone that enjoyed it, but for me, there's enough depressing stuff going on in the world without films like this one. I just don't understand the fawning over it.

Gusser09 · 11-01-2023 12:24pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120093469#Comment_120093469

I'd agree. It wasn't my cup of tea but fair play to them. They have been been given recognition and an award in their field.

sydthebeat · 11-01-2023 12:31pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120093576#Comment_120093576

and not usually so either.

For 'In bruges' Farrell also won the Golden Globe for best actor on a musical / comedy, and the movie was nominated for best picture as a musical / comedy. (a movie which deals with much more deeply depressing themes!)

For three billboards it won 4 golden globes, in cluding best picture, actress, screenplay and supporting actor.... and 7 oscar nominations.

these accolades havent come out of the blue for mcdonaghs movies.

murpho999 · 11-01-2023 12:39pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120093302#Comment_120093302

Yes, Irish films wining major awards happens all the time so therefore should not be covered.

Now back to usual misery porn of homelessness, housing market and health services.

How dare anyone show interest in something as unimportant as the arts.

pixelburp · 11-01-2023 12:43pm

As much as I despise the Golden Globes, nor was especially gone on Banshees in the first place: it's a weirdly determined moment of myopia to ignore how Banshees winning international awards for cinema might be Big News.

Though I do despair a little that yet again, the Irish Film that does well with US audiences is the one that presents us as a backwards land of Aran Sweaters and tragic emotional repression.

sydthebeat · 11-01-2023 12:51pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120093661#Comment_120093661

??

it presents island life in 1920s ireland as "a backwards land of Aran Sweaters and tragic emotional repression."

which it pretty much was.

Ever watch "How the Myth Was Made" (1979) by george stoney about the movie "man of Aran" ? this was filmed in 1979 and was not much different to the living conditions of island life that McDonagh portrays on the 1920s.

murpho999 · 11-01-2023 12:53pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120093661#Comment_120093661

The film is based on a fictional Aran island in 1923 so I think it's also accurate that they would wear Aran jumpers.

Also, don't think it portrays ireland in a bad way at all as I'd say it's accurate as to what island life was like then.

It portrays Ireland better than has been done in the likes of Darby O'Gill etc which is more "Oirish".

In Banshees the characters are articulate, intelligent and have substance behind them. Very different to other hollywood portrayals of Irish.

silverharp · 11-01-2023 1:03pm

If you are overly critical of this film, I guess remember that it is foreigners that find it the most interesting, Ive seen a number of comments along the lines of the visuals being the among the best in European cinema , that would be lost on us because erm we can just open the window

11-01-2023 1:13pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120093661#Comment_120093661

It's a fairy accurate description of Ireland back then, which is why this is a great tragicomedy. So bleak but also carries a comical element for it being so incredibly bleak!

pixelburp · 11-01-2023 1:18pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120093707#Comment_120093707

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120093720#Comment_120093720

I wasn't angling it as a criticism: but by all accounts the films about Ireland that do well internationally (or just with America), especially those films with a more serious tone, are the ones that might emphasise poverty or misery in Ireland. Basically it's either "Faith and begorrah, we're poor", or "Death would be a release, we're poor"

Again, not a criticism in of itself, more the spotting of a trend. Which is probably why An Cailín Ciúin won't feature in the end - it's not far enough along the Angela's Ashes Scale 😎

pretty boy floyd · 11-01-2023 1:23pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120093536#Comment_120093536

You have summed up my feelings and thoughts exactly. I loved In Bruges but this one is so cynical, superficial and dystopian at its heart. I think anyone comparing it to Beckett is having a laugh.

Fysh · 11-01-2023 1:26pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120093535#Comment_120093535

I disagree - you absolutely can assess at least the technical aspects of the film-making on an objective level.

At a basic-competence level it's on the far end of the scale from the likes of The Room : visually and aurally, scenes convey what is needed to the audience and we can see/hear what we're expected to. There are no obvious editing errors or egregious continuity problems that distract from viewing. And the narrative, at least internally, follows its own thread in a consistent way - whether it is plausible to the viewer is a different matter.

None of that pertains, IMO, to the artistic aspect of how the film and its cast tell the story, but it speaks to the competence of its direction and craft. Those are things that absolutely can and should be taken on their own merits separately to whether a given viewer happens to like or enjoy the narrative told in the film. It being competently made etc also doesn't in any way prevent it from being a film people dislike or think to be flawed in various ways.

pretty boy floyd · 11-01-2023 1:33pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120093808#Comment_120093808

I'm not sure how accurate it is. Aspects of it may have been but details irritated me. For one thing I don't think they'd have that much sunshine in a year! Also things like people talking about being 'depressed'. The concept of depression and its use in every day conversation would have been very much a late 20th Century thing, replacing the idea earlier idea of melancholia which was seen as an illness. Do we believe that people, including the police, wouldn't have known what the Civil War was about? It was as straightforward as any war could have been...pro or anti treaty

sydthebeat · 11-01-2023 1:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120093841#Comment_120093841

ah fair enough, id be in 100% agreement if there wasnt a certain element of pandering to this stereotype by certain cohorts of irish themselves.

go onto inishmor tomorrow and the first thing youll be offered is a horse and cart ride around the island to view the ship wreck, the deserted houses and the obligatory graveyard visit. Killarney is a cesspit of Oirishness created to pander to the Yanks, also inclusive of a horse and cart ride.

a lot of irish short movies which have been well received havent been based on the 'ah begorrah we're poor' storylines. im thinking six shooter, the shore, ance lexi dance, the crush.. movies like that.

but i do agree an abhor the Oirish movies that show ireland as backward poor place, even good movies like the 'into the west' (which i love as it was partly filmed in my home town) is still based on poverty an folklore.

notAMember · 11-01-2023 2:10pm

I found this very hard to watch, was close to hitting the off switch a few times. The miserable island life was one dimensional and sentimental.

The main characters didn't develop. The development was in the supporting characters of Siobhan (sister) and Dominic, who I found far more interesting than the eyebrow gymnastics of village idiot Colin Farrell and the done-to-death grumpy old fella of Brendan Gleeson. To me, they were both boring tropes.

I watched this the same week as The Wonder, also set a in bleak miserable impoverished theater stagey version of Ireland. Despite that same setting annoyance, Florence Pugh was miles more interesting to watch in that similar context.

osarusan · 11-01-2023 2:17pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120093880#Comment_120093880

That's a fair comment, but I was replying to somebody saying the film was objectively well-made, acted, directed, shot.

So my 'anything' (not the best choice of word, granted) referred to those aspects, rather than the technical aspects you've mentioned. And I think in terms of those aspects was talking about/replying to, it is a very subjective area.

johnny_ultimate · 11-01-2023 3:04pm

I don't really think it's accurate to say the main characters don't develop. If you look at where Padraic and Colm end up in the final scene, they're both in quite different places than they were in the first act. Colm has arrived at a sort of fragile peace and sympathy for Padraic. Whereas the trauma of events has left Padraic that bit more clued-in, angry and maybe even mature. Granted, much of the dramatic tension in the film is generated precisely because it takes Padraic so long to actually cop on, but he does get there and the final act is driven by his drastic actions as much as Colm's.

Again, it's another thing if you didn't find that particularly convincing or compelling. And in some ways, Siobhan is the character with the more traditional character growth - she's certainly the most proactive of the bunch. But yeah I definitely think all the characters end up at a different destination than where they started.

JP Liz V1 · 11-01-2023 3:59pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120093463#Comment_120093463

I was sure Brendan Fraser was a lock

PropJoe10 · 11-01-2023 4:04pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120093862#Comment_120093862

Agreed. I actually love a dark comic story in general, which was why I was looking forward to watching this. But I just felt that any humour was totally lost in the utterly depressing storyline. I didn't find it funny, or moving, or emotional, or any of the things that you'd generally want to find in a movie such as this. I just found it extremely bleak, and bleak for the sake of it. Character development was non-existent for me as well. I really thought it missed the mark totally. I'd honestly rather have a root canal than be subjected to it again 😅

bodhrandude · 11-01-2023 10:33pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120094074#Comment_120094074

Where did you see The Wonder, was it at the cinema or streaming.

The Banshees Of Inisherin

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