It’s Oscar season and since I’ve slowly been transforming into an insufferable film fanatic over the last year, this year’s annual movie awards show is now something I care about more than I ever did before. This is also the first year that I have seen most of the Best Picture nominees and a fair amount of other films nominated for other categories. Needless to say, I have a few strong opinions. “Everything Everywhere All at Once” was seriously really good and definitely deserves all the nominations it got. “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” had better win best animated feature. Though I have only read the book it’s based on, for its story alone “Women Talking” should have been nominated for more categories, but it definitely deserves the win for Best Adapted Screenplay. And it is my firmest belief that Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin” deserves the Best Picture win.
“Banshees” is by no means a happy movie. While I’ll try to refrain from spoiling any of the darker aspects to it, the movie takes place on an isolated Irish island where normal human interaction is hard to come by. Colin Farrell plays Pádraic Súilleabháin, a lonely island dweller desperately trying to reconnect with his longtime drinking buddy Colm Doherty, played by Brendan Gleeson, who has abruptly shunned him for no reason other than finding him “dull.” The movie turns tragic quickly as Pádraic goes against his friend’s wishes to try getting to the bottom of this sudden change of character. Farrell, Gleeson and the rest of the supporting cast are all amazing and together bring the fictional island of Inisherin to life, portraying most every type of emotion superbly over the course of the film. Despite its despair at times, this was also one of the funniest movies I saw last year and the expert balancing of those two feelings is a testament to the perfection of the writing.
I may be biased towards this movie as I went to Ireland myself over the summer. Indeed, I visited one of the primary filming locations for this very movie before I had ever even heard of it. That being the case though, I can admit that the cinematography, lighting, and overall visual tone capture the setting beautifully. Set in 1923, at the height of the Irish Civil War, there are little to no artificial lights and so the movie is mainly lit by the sun and moon. Deliberate or not, the lighting was one of the best parts. It regularly corresponded with the mood of the scenes and brought some realism to the world.
“Banshees” emotionally hit home for me. Its exploration of the relationship between two old friends alone will resonate with many. When I first watched the movie, two of my best friends were not speaking to each other for equally petty, unexplainable reasons as in the movie and seeing the parallels between the two situations was saddening. One of the characters struggles with the question of whether it is better to be nice or to be remembered in the long term and though I don’t know if that same question can be applied to the situation between my own friends, it is also a question I have recently found compelling as a history major and as someone who I would like to think has become more reflective lately. I don’t believe “Banshees of Inisherin” answers the question during its runtime which is a shame. While it does raise larger questions, at its core, “Banshees” remains more down to earth which I think makes it accessible for anyone and more confident as a film in general.
“The Banshees of Inisherin” is available to watch on HBO Max.