One thing right at the beginning: Martin McDonagh is one of my favorite directors, 7 Psychos is one of my favorite films and who can’t do anything with absurd characters who lose themselves in even more absurd exchanges of blows, until at some point it escalates completely and blood flowsfor which the following film will not be.
But for everyone else: The Banshees of Inisherin premiered at the Venice Film Festival, was applauded for 13 minutes (!) and is exactly what you would expect from McDonagh: funny, bizarre, violent and completely different in its quirkiness than what usually happens in Hollywood. Interestingly, the film, which has absolutely nothing to do with superhero narratives, combines two DC villains from The Batman.
Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin, starring Collin Farrell, is one of the funniest movies of the year
In essence, it’s about two men on the tiny Irish island of Inisherin. In 1923, there’s not really much to do here other than sit down in the pub every afternoon and drink until dark. Everyone knows everyone here, and when two people are arguing, it’s hard not to shout about it, let alone avoid each other.
© The Walt Disney Company Germany GmbH
Colin Farrell (left) and Brendan Gleeson in The Banshees of Inisherin
It is all the more traumatic for the somewhat simple-minded Pádraic (Colin Farrell) when his best friend Colm (Brendan Gleeson) suddenly breaks his friendship and makes a harsh announcement: If Pádraic doesn’t leave him alone, Colm will cutting off a finger for every attempt his ex-best friend made to talk. A situation that not only collapses Pádraic’s world, but also throws the entire island into turmoil. The pastor insults a sinner in the confessional, there is an argument about miniature donkeys and in the end even houses burn.
The Banshees of Inisherin tells of the full of loving hardness brutal end of an unequal male friendship during the Irish Civil War. Martin McDonagh doesn’t spare his characters, for whom almost every dialogue ends in a verbal skirmish and who bleed more than once, but he also understands their stubbornness, their unfulfilled desires and their fears.
One can’t help but love and suffer with the residents of Inisherin. Be it Pádraic’s sister Sioban (Kerry Condon), who wishes nothing more than to finally be able to leave Inisherin. The Creepy Mrs. McCormick (Sheila Flitton), telling of an approaching death. Or the only one on the island who, in the eyes of the village community, is an even bigger idiot than Pádraic: the policeman’s son Dominic (Barry Keoghan), whose father abuses him physically and mentally behind closed doors.
The black comedy is not only a successful reunion for The Batman fans
There’s a reason the cast feels like one big dysfunctional family: Many of those involved have already filmed together. Collin Farrell played the villain Penguin in The Batman, which he will also play in the spinoff series The Penguin. Barry Keoghan, on the other hand, embodied the new, absolutely nightmarish-looking Joker in the same DC film. In The Banshees of Inisherin, they play the complete opposite: lovable Dullis. (“Touche!” – “To what?” – “Ché. That’s french.”)
Watch the Bruges trailer here… and die?
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The biggest reunion, however, takes place between the two main characters and the director. Last stood Brendan Gleeson and Farrell in Bruges see… and die? together for Martin McDonagh in front of the camera. Here, too, they played an unequal pair culturally interested father figure and blockhead with a heart of gold, just as a contract killer. The same magic can now be felt in The Banshees of Inisherin, which Bruges at least matches.
How this very special tragic comedy will be received by the masses remains to be seen. The film will start in Germany on January 12, 2023 in the cinemas. One thing is clear though: at some point Colin Farrell’s eyebrows will have to be nominated for an Oscar. What happens in the face of this actor is unbelievable.
Are you looking forward to The Banshees of Inisherin?