the banshees of inisherin…

I try to get to the Watershed at least once a fortnight but, to be honest, it’s been far less than that this year – there just haven’t been enough films that have appealed to me (perhaps it’s due to the knock-on effects of the pandemic?). There have, of course, been a few notable exceptions – such as ‘Brian+Charles’, ‘Vortex’, ‘The Worst Person In The World’ and, most recently, ‘Moonage Daydream’.
BUT Moira and I went along to the Watershed this afternoon to see Martin MacDonagh’s remarkable film ‘The Banshees Of Inisherin’… and it was EXCEPTIONAL!
Set on the remote, fictional island of Inisherin in 1923, against the backdrop of the Irish civil war, it’s a tragicomedy of male friendship gone (very) sour.
Every day at 2pm, dairy farmer Pádraic (Colin Farrell) calls on his best friend, Colm (Brendan Gleeson), and the two head to the pub. They’re very different characters: Pádraic can talk for Ireland about all things mundane while Colm is a thinker, writes music and plays the fiddle. BUT then, one day, Colm refuses to go to the pub… he’s apparently decided that he’s got to the age when time is running out and he needs to do something creative with whatever he has left. Colm decides to cut Pádraic out of his life completely… with ‘severe’ consquences (I’ll leave it there) *no spoilers!*…
Farrell and Gleeson are simply wonderful and Kerry Condon is absolutely excellent as Pádraic’s bookish sister Siobhán.
It’s a brilliant, powerful and flawlessly-acted film… tragic, moving and humorous.
You REALLY must see it if you can.