Black comedy masterpiece Banshees of Inisherin ticks all the boxes

With all the hype surrounding the release of The Banshees of Inisherin, I went to the movie preview with some trepidation.

Would it live up to its publicity? Was the acting really that good?

Well, I need not have worried.

This really is one of the finest films of 2022 and if you have seen Martin McDonagh’s earlier Oscar-winner, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, this will come as no surprise.

Brendan Gleeson (The Guard, In Bruges) plays Colm, a disconsolate, often miserable resident of the small island of Inisherin on the west coast of Ireland in the early 1920s.

Times are tough with the Irish Civil War on the mainland in full swing, and Colm is not a happy man.

His best friend Padraic Suilleabhain (Colin Farrell) is a simple village farmer with no inkling of Colm’s ‘desolation’, and it comes as quite a shock to him when his beer-drinking buddy Colm suddenly declares he doesn’t want to be his friend anymore.

In fact, Colm has become so disenchanted with Padraic that he announces in the pub one night that should Padraic ever speak to him again, he (Colm) will cut off one of his own fingers.

Understandably, Padraic is at a loss to understand his best friend’s reasoning and simply cannot fathom why he has come to this conclusion.

Anyone who has seen another of McDonagh’s earlier films, In Bruges, will recognise the duo of Farrell and Gleeson, who gave wonderful performances in that film also.

Banshees is simply a further extension of that partnership, set in a different time and place.

Back to Banshees, the sparks fly between the two as Padraic does his utmost to rekindle the friendship, leading to both tragic and hilarious incidents in the film.

Colm’s stubbornness in the village is legendary and as a gifted fiddle player, cutting off the fingers of his right hand would be a devastating blow to his musicianship.

Nevertheless, the dispute continues, with Colm explaining he wants to concentrate on composing his music; a highly ironic reason considering he needs his fingers to play the fiddle successfully!

The back story involving Padraic’s sister Siobhan (Kerry Condon) is superb as she tries in vain to dampen the fires generated by the dispute, while Padraic strikes up an unlikely friendship with slow-witted Dominic (Barry Keoghan), who is suffering at the hands of his abusive policeman father.

Best described as a ‘tragi-comedy’, Banshees is filmed in County Mayo and the scenery is absolutely breathtaking.

Add to that, a display of acting perfection by two of Ireland’s best-known leading men and you have a recipe for excellence seldom seen in feature films these days.

The Banshees of Inisherin is showing at Luna Leederville, Luna on SX, Windsor Cinema and Camelot Outdoor from December 26, 2022.

By Mike Peeters Media