Sheila Flitton | Through the Shattered Lens

2022’s The Banshees of Inisherin takes place in 1923, near the end of the Irish Civil War.

On the fiction isle of Inisherin, the inhabitants are safe from the the fighting happening on the main land. Occasionally, they can hear the gunfire and the explosions coming from Ireland but, for the most part, they’re content to go about their lives the same as they always have. A few do dream of changing their routine. Young Dominic Kearney (Barry Keoghan) has a crush on Siobhán Súilleabháin (Kerry Condon), who herself occasionally entertains the idea of leaving Inisherin and seeking something better. But, for the most part, everyone is happy with doing the same thing over and over again. They know exactly when they will see each other. They know where everyone will be at any given moment of time. They know that Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson) will be playing his fiddle at the pub or sitting in his cottage with his dog. They know that every morning, he will have a drink with his best friend (and Siobhan’s brother), Padraic (Colin Farrell).

Except, one day, Colm abruptly tells Padraic that he no longer wants to be his friend.

Padraic has a difficult time understanding what Colm could possibly mean. He and Colm have always been friends. How can Colm suddenly no longer be his friend? Making things even more frustrating is that Colm refuses to explain what, if anything, Padraic has actually done to make Colm no longer want to be his friend. The closest thing to an explanation that Padraic gets is that Colm finds Padraic to be boring. Colm, who composes music and, at the very least, seems to spend a good deal of time in contemplation, is tired of Padraic’s jokes and his simple ambitions. He’s even tired of hearing about Padraic’s pet donkey, Jenny. In order to show how sincere he is in his desire to no longer speak to Padraic, Colm says that he will chop off one of his fingers every time that Padraic speaks to him. Padaic, who loves to talk and really doesn’t have anyone other than Colm and his sister to talk to, is shocked when fingers start to show up at his home. It only escalates from there.

It’s a darkly funny movie, which is no surprise considering that it was written and directed by Martin McDonagh. If anyone can make you smile while discussing mutilating himself, it’s Brendan Gleeson. At heart, though, The Banshees of Inisherin is a deadly serious film with the characters of Colm and Padraic obviously meant to represent more than just two friends who are no longer speaking. Colm, in his desire to have something more to his life than just his boring life in Inisherin, chops off his fingers and leaves you wondering how he will be able to play the fiddle that he loves so much. It seems counter-productive but once Colm says he’s going to do it, he has no choice but to follow through. The simple-minded but achingly sincere Padraic goes from simply being emotionally wounded to being vengeful over Colm’s rejection. It’s easy to see that Colm originally ended the friendship because he was depressed and feeling as if he had wasted his entire life on Inisherin. Unfortunately, by the time Colm and Padraic come to understand this very common emotion, they’re both too far gone to turn back. While Colm and Padraic go from being friends to sworn enemies, Dominic attempts to be more assertive and Siobhan dreams of perhaps the same thing that motivates Colm, an escape from Inisherin.

The Banshees of Inisherin is a well-acted and thought-provoking film, one that mixes serious of heart-rendering drama with scenes of dark comedy. Brendan Gleeson, Colin Farrell, Barry Keoghan, and Kerry Condon were all Oscar-nominated for their work here. It’s hard to believe that this was Gleeson’s first nomination. (Gleeson lost Supporting Actor to Ke Huy Quan for Everything Everywhere All At Once. I would argue that Gleeson should have been nominated for Best Actor and that he deserved the Oscar over The Whale‘s Brendan Fraser.) Farrell and Gleeson are believable as both lifelong friends and sudden enemies. Farrell delivers his lines with such earnest conviction that he actually brought tears to my eyes.

Despite having received 9 nominations, The Banshees of Inisherin didn’t win in any of its categories, not even for Best Original Screenplay. The Banshees of Inisherin lost Best Picture to Everything Everywhere All At Once, a true Oscar injustice.

Sharon Curley (Tina Kellegher) is 20 years old, a member of a large, working class Dublin family. Her father is Des Curley (Colm Meaney), plain-spoken, a bit old fashioned, but also someone who sincerely loves his family and works hard to give them the best that he can. Des is someone who brags about the fact that he hasn’t cried in over 20 years. Of course, when he says that, he means that he hasn’t cried sober. Crying drunk, especially while watching the World Cup, doesn’t count.

Speaking of drinking, one night out with her friends leads to Sharon finding herself pregnant. As Sharon is young and unmarried, the identity of the father becomes a subject of gossip in her close-knit neighborhood. At first, Sharon refuses to tell anyone who the father is. Eventually, she confesses that the father was a Spanish sailor who picked her up and gave her the greatest night of passion of her life. Of course, Sharon’s lying. The father is actually a rather unimpressive middle-aged man named George Burgess (Pat Laffan). George picked her up while she was inebriated. He’s the type of person who kept her panties after they had sex but expects to be thanked for not showing them to his friends. George reacts to the prospect of becoming a father by disappearing.

Sharon struggles, with both the gossip and the knowledge that her neighbors, people who she has known her entire life, are judging her for being pregnant and unmarried. Continually, she is asked, “Who are you having the baby for?,” as if she’s doing a favor for the man who knocked her up and then abandoned her. Sharon decides to keep the baby and even has a laugh at the thought of naming it Georgina. Des, at first, has a hard time understanding Sharon’s decision but eventually, he supports his daughter. He even reads all of the pamphlets on pregnancy and giving birth. When a young man at the hospital mentions that he’s waiting on the delivery of his third child, Des offers him a pamphlet on “family planning.”

Made for British television and released theatrically in 1993, The Snapper is based on a book by Roddy Doyle. The book was a sequel to The Commitments but, because 20th Century Fox owned the rights to The Commitments, the family’s name was changed for the film version of The Snapper. The Rabbittes became the Curleys and there’s certainly no mention of the fact that Sharon’s brother once managed a soul band. That said, Colm Meaney reprises his role as the befuddled but loving family patriarch. He and Tina Kellegher give performances in The Snapper that feel authentic and honest. Every laugh, every smile, and even every tear feels earned.

Much as The Commitments did with music, The Snapper uses a domestic drama, the type that has inspired countless glossy films, to examine the realities of being working class in 20th Century Dublin. With the tight-knit community full of judgment and not much support, Sharon learns who she can and cannot depend on but she also learns that’s she’s far stronger than anyone, including herself, knew. The Snapper is a wonderful snapshot of life.