The Banshees of Inisherin Directed by Martin McDonagh
The Banshees of Inisherin – Gli spiriti dell'isola - Almas en pena de Inisherin
Directed by Martin McDonagh
Starrings: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan, Pat Shortt, Gary Lydon, David Pearse, Sheila Flitton, Jon Kenny, Bríd Ní Neachtain
Country: Irland, UK, USA
Year 2022
Author Review: Shane Virunphan
Click Here for Italian Version
“Just silence.”
On 6 December 1921, the Irish War of Independence between Great Britain and the self-proclaimed Republic of Ireland ended in a treaty. Ireland became independent, but Ulster's six counties remained in the United Kingdom. For a part of the pro-independence IRA forces, it was unacceptable. It was a betrayal. The rift turned into a bloody civil war.
The component that was more realistic considered the agreement a first step ahead. For the other side, it was a defeat.
The peculiarity of this civil war was its relative brevity and limited; there were no fights in a large area of the territory:
“Unlike many civil wars, Ireland's was relatively brief, large areas of the country witnessed little or no fighting and conventional military operations of any significant scale were over by September 1922.” (1)
The population was exhausted by the nine years of war against Great Britain. Therefore, a painful split occurred within the IRA. It was a terrible division. Brothers, friends, neighbours became enemies. They clashed on opposing fronts after fighting the British together:
“Higgins families lived within yards of each other in the Dublin suburb of Blackrock, yet might as well have been on different planets.
Like all civil wars, Ireland's was a bitter experience for the country. It pitted brother against brother, quite literally in the case of Cork IRA officers Tom and Seán Hales, and did much to define the physical and political geography of modern Ireland.” (2)
On the small Irish island of Inisherin, another conflict suddenly breaks out between two friends. The confrontation tears friends, families and inhabitants apart. This allegory is the plot of the film The Banshees of Inisherin - The spirits of the island - Almas en pena de Inisherin by filmmaker Martin McDonagh. The film was presented at the 79th Venice Film Festival. In Venice, in 2017, Martin McDonagh won the Golden Lion with Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, also set in small spaces in the province of Missouri.
White screen. Haze. A song. Inisherin is a minuscule island, with plots of land, houses and a Madonna statue. It is a beautiful place. It was April 1923. It is not far from the mainland. The cannon shots of the civil war can be heard. Despite the nearby battles, life on the island of Inisherin usually proceeds calmly; repetitively, until something explosive happens unexpectedly.
Pádraic and Colm are great friends. Every day at 2 p.m., Pádraic goes to Colm's house and, together, they reach the pub. In the pub, they spend the rest of the day, drinking enormous quantities of beer and talking about monotonous happenings.
One afternoon, as always, Pádraic goes to Colm. He knocks, but nobody answers. Later, Colm goes to the pub alone and intimates to Pádraic not to talk to him anymore. Colm is determined, implacable. Pádraic tries to understand the reasons but Colm tells him to keep silent and leave him. Besides, he threatens to mutilate his fingers whenever he speaks to him.
Pádraic insists. He begins a continuous challenge with the cutting of several phalanxes and the killing of peaceful donkey. Inisherin has more victims: Siobhán, Pádraic's sister and the weak Dominic.
The film has an allegorical reading of the civil war. Other meanings are boredom, resentment, madness, loneliness, incest, friendship, music, Ireland, drunks, gossip. Events occur in a tiny village on a small island. The islands create a distance, a difference, an isolation, both in good and evil. In residents prevail humans feeling and, at the same time, they are hard, doubtful and attentive.
Martin McDonagh, although he lives in London, like all Irish people, is proud of his country:
“We were brought up to be proud of being Irish, maybe more so than someone brought up in Dublin,” he says. “We’d always hear Irish music and be encouraged to do GAA [Gaelic football] games. The Irish football team were doing great at that time as well, so that added to a sense of pride, I guess. But at the same time, I’ve always been a bit anarchist, and anti-nationalist. I had posters of punk bands and Travis Bickle [the antihero of Taxi Driver] on my walls.” (3)
Irish feelings can be seen in the film's tone and in the protagonists. The director narrates the story with a double sensibility:
“And it’s funny… but it’s sad. No one really tries to make sad films any more.” (4)
Duplicity is evident in the depiction of boredom. To describe it, Martin McDonagh uses whimsical dialogue against the background of painful sadness which quickly turns into bitterness and foolishness.
Martin McDonagh rationally works with the actors to the detriment of the narrative:
“So we were always aiming for that, which allowed us to leave more space and quietness I think than in some of the other movies. It’s probably less plotty and more of a character study than any of the others too. But I think it’s equally as funny as the funny bits of the others. (5)
Pádraic is dull. Colm accuses him of being boring but Siobhán assaults him: “But he's always been dull. Pádraic is the typical islander. He is true, he is tedious but he is also funny, naive, gullible, simple, weak, amusing, docile, faithful. These qualities, and his ignorance, lead him to love his island. Colm was part of his life. He shared his existence with him. He is not smart. He does not comprehend Colm. He believes he mocks him.
Colm is also an islander. He is an excellent violinist, but above all, he is grumpy. He drives Pádraic away, without explanation, forgetting the hours at the pub to fight monotony. He is ungrateful, not sympathetic because he self-destructs.
The two men demonstrate a strong temper in the shot reverse-shot dialogue:
“I just don't like you no more.”
“But you like me yesterday.”
Pádraic is confused. He cannot understand Colm's feelings, with whom he spent the days.
Siobhán is the only woman in the story. She does not look like an islander, but she has different values. She is tough, strong-willed, intelligent. She loves reading, she is cultured, she is a rational being, she wishes to be a peacemaker, she wants to spread wisdom. Nevertheless, it is impossible, since the islanders are stubborn; so, they cannot change. Siobhán has only one choice, leave it.
The most suffering is Domenic. Young, motherless, with a brutal and incestuous father who harasses him in the tedium of the night. Domenic is not evil. He is ingenuous, unable to perceive his situation. Perhaps, he is a bit silly. He would like to have a girlfriend. There are few girls on the island, and they all refuse him mercilessly. After the last refusal, Domenic becomes lucid.
The viewer identifies with Pádraic's meek and innocent gaze. After being beaten up by a policeman, he reacts by crying. He is certainly affectionate when he walks with his donkey and even drags him into the house, causing his sister's anger. He is sharp, witty in conversation, despite his closed attitude.
The structure appears understandable. Characters are presented alongside contrasts between former friends. In fact, they immediately quarrelled. A descriptive introduction shows the beauty of the island. Hostility became drama, such as the civil war. The twist is compelling but it is a work-in-progress.
The cadence and rhythm is equal to life on the island. Time passes slowly but is rich in tension, marked by dialogues and constant quarrels.
The film has a brilliant suggestion like in Inisherin's campaign. It is in contrast to the pub's closed, smoky, dark atmosphere. The community gathers inside and the hearty beers obfuscate monotony as fog envelopes the island. The pub has a suffused light. The sources are defined by doors, windows or lamps outlining the room in chiaroscuro, including Colm's violin lessons to his students. Colm is ruthless with his friend: “The other night, two hours you spent talking to me about the things you found in your little donkey's shite that day.”
Repetitiousness even exists in the Sunday rite of mass. Everyone participates, everyone having a bath and dressing elegantly. The church is a further representative place, like the pub: in the confessional, parish priest and sinners converse.
The claustrophobic island widens its vision in extreme long-shots, in the wide frames and in the presence of images of the Madonna.
The story dates back to April 1923. The civil war ended the following month. There were many dead. Comrades and friends killed each other. Some survived but with hatred in their hearts. It is the same violence between Pádraic and Colm. In the end, the two friends separate. Have they established a truce? Behind them, there is cruelty, fire and hostilities. Will both the Irish friends who escaped from the war and Inisherin's two friends find peace?
After the war allegory, the film is intact in its narrative with confined and provincial characters. It is thanks to an accurate screenplay, capable of outlining the personalities. The Golden Osella award for the best screenplay to Martin McDonagh is well deserved, as the award for best actor for Colin Farrell.
Peter Cottrell, The Irish Civil War 1922-23, Osprey Publishing, 2008 (https://www.google.it/books/edition/The_Irish_Civil_War_1922_23/2m6ICwAAQBAJ?hl=it&gbpv=1&dq=Ireland+civil+war&printsec=frontcover)
Peter Cottrell, The Irish Civil War 1922-23, Osprey Publishing, 2008 (https://www.google.it/books/edition/The_Irish_Civil_War_1922_23/2m6ICwAAQBAJ?hl=it&gbpv=1&dq=Ireland+civil+war&printsec=frontcover)
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/oct/02/martin-mcdonagh-banshees-of-inisherin-interview
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/oct/02/martin-mcdonagh-banshees-of-inisherin-interview
Are cannibals evil? Follows this idea Luca Guadagnino in the film Bonus and All presented at the 79th Venice Film Festival. Luca Guadagnino follows this thought. He believes he is Dante Alighieri when he writes about Ugolino della Gherardesca in the Antenora, the second zone of the ninth circle of Inferno in the Divine Comedy.