The Banshees of Inisherin — Explained
Oscar nominations are out! So I’ll be doing a few videos about not only my picks for who I think should win, but also my opinions on these films. One such film that was nominated for Best Picture was the Banshees of Inisherin. It’s a movie about friendship. Or is it? What is the film really about? Well join me dear viewer as I explain all the intricacies of this wonderful movie.
On the surface, The Banshees of Inisherin is the story of two lifelong friends Padraic and Colm played by Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, who have a falling out. But the film is not as simple as that. It’s purposefully a slow, calm burn set against the waning days of the Irish Civil War in 1922 to 1923, roughly 100 years ago. This detail is important as the story goes on as we begin to look deeper into the film.
The movie plays like a funny fable or folk tale, laced with that delicious Irish charm and humor that I love so much. The two men live on a remote island off the coast of Ireland, which is sparsely populated by a collection of eccentrics who have known each other forever, know everything about each other, and as we see toward the end of the film, are unlikely to ever leave.
The film begins with Padraic going to his neighborhood pub to have a pint of beer with his friend Colm, only to discover that Colm no longer wishes to be friends with him. This throws Padraic into a melancholic folly and shocking depression. I can’t say I blame him, if a lifelong friend suddenly decides not to talk to you, it can be quite jarring. Padraic spends a good chunk of the film trying to figure out why Colm decided to drop him at the drop of a hat. He comes to learn that Colm finds him incredibly dull and boring. But quite frankly, if you ask me, I think that’s a dumb reason because as the film portrays brilliantly, the island of Inisherin is quite dull and boring in and of itself. So if Colm really wanted to escape his onerous ennui, he’d go to mainland Ireland for some excitement.
But therein lies the crux of the film. It is certainly not a story of ending a friendship, at least not at its core. The film is set against the backdrop of the Irish Civil War. This isn’t part of American high school education, neither in AP US History nor AP European History which I both took, so you’ll have to forgive my ignorance on the topic. Suffice it to say, it was a very complicated geopolitical issue in its day and continues to be even through 2023. The film is an allegory, through and through. It brilliantly masks its players and it really doesn’t matter which side Colm and Padraic are playing. What matters is the portrayal of the senselessness of not only the Irish Civil War, which pitted brother against brother, but war in and of itself. Colm’s reason for dumping his lifelong friend is really petty and trivial which in the grand scheme of things, represents the cause of most wars throughout history.
The tension escalates as Colm begins to act more and more erratically, threatening to, and actually cutting off his fingers for every attempt Padraic makes to reconcile their friendship. The tension escalates further as Padraic’s beloved mini donkey accidentally eats one of Colm’s severed fingers and chokes to death on it. Padraic is so distraught over the loss of his beloved pet, that his nice veneer erodes immediately, as he sets fire to Colm’s house. All the meanwhile, Padraic’s sister Siobhan, played by the ever wonderfully witty Kerry Condon, leaves the island for better opportunities in mainland Ireland. She implores Padraic to leave the dank island and grow as a person, but Padraic is now too embroiled in the conflict.
The old lady which Padraic avoids like the plague, serves as the bridge between the surface and deep levels of the film, the bridge of the allegory. She represents the literal banshee. In Irish folklore, a banshee is a female spirit who heralds the death of a family member, usually by screaming, wailing, or shrieking. The name banshee is connected to the mythologically important tumuli or mounds that dot the Irish countryside, which the film’s cinematography captures quite beautifully.
At the end of the film, Padraic remarks that, “some things there’s no movin’ on from, and I think that’s a good thing.” This line encapsulates the core message of the film quite succinctly. Ireland’s history is fraught with conflict and its resulting melancholy. The end of its civil war did not signify an era of peace, but even more conflict as the seeds of division took further root. The escalation of the quarreling between these two friends signifies this division taking root. The core message of the film aims to show the senselessness of conflict. However, unlike a film like Hell or High Water, it stops just short of explicitly directing the audience to cut the cycle of conflict. The film ends more poignantly and allows the audience to make that final decision.
There seems to be a common theme among the Oscar nominees this year. The Banshees of Inisherin, Top Gun Maverick, All Quiet On The Western Front, Argentina 1985, and even Triangle of Sadness are all connected, not because they were nominated, but because they each bring a warning, however explicit it may be. The underlying nuanced connection between these films is the senselessness of war and conflict both internal and external. When Erich Remarque wrote his book All Quiet On The Western Front, he did so not to glorify war, but to warn others about the senselessness and carnage of it all. He saw the horrors of World War I first hand and wanted to prevent these atrocities from ever occurring again. He humanized both sides by showing the individuals fighting this war on the ground. This is something that the Banshees of Inisherin also did and did brilliantly.
Overall, the Banshees of Inisherin was not a typical film for a typical audience. In a way, it reminds me a lot of Animal Farm, telling a surface story and a deeper allegory for a much more serious topic. The acting out of Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson was spectacular, especially out of Farrell, who usually portrays much more tough and aggressive characters. Is he better than Brendan Fraser in The Whale? I don’t think so, but that’s only in comparison. Farrell did a fantastic job and is certainly deserving of praise. The film itself was a phenomenal allegory warning against the senselessness of war. In a time where we’ve never been closer to nuclear Armageddon, it is important to pay attention to these warnings before it’s too late. I highly recommend you guys check this film out!
If you like this review, check out the video review on YouTube: