Banshees of Inisheirn Muddled Messages

Banshees of Inisherin is another contender with quite a lot of buzz around it. If I had better planning, I might have paired this review with Tár, as these two films have more in common than you’d think.

No, this isn’t leading into a “Why is a raven like a writing desk” type of riddle. The two films’ settings, circumstances, and protagonists are very different. But I can’t help but see, or better yet feel, a similarity between how Banshees of Inishirn treats the audience and Tár. More on that later.

Colm (Gleeson) and Pádraic (Farrell) are rowing. What kicked off this division of friends is an enigma wrapped in a mystery for Pádraic as much as the audience. But that fact is all the exposition we get.

The choice to drop the audience into the middle of the story meant I spent more time trying to orient myself to the time period. At the same time, it made me latch on to Pádraic as he was just as confused as I was and set me against Colm.

My allegiance shifted as the story progressed, not to Colm, but to Siobhán, Jenny the Donkey, and Colm’s dog. Probably not the intention of the film’s creator at all. But those three characters in their own way embodied sense, reason, and heart in an otherwise absurd story.

Kerry Condon’s “You’re all fecking boring” delivery was an incredible delight. I wouldn’t have been disappointed if the credits had rolled a second later. She would have delivered a satisfying ending to a dismal tale.

Alas, that was not to be. Jenny and Colm’s dog are forced to remain behind, trapped. However, Siobhan has enough agency to escape most senseless violence and harm.

By the film’s end, I was sitting on the couch asking myself yet again, what had I just watched?

Thanks to some help from CJ and a Google search, Banshees explored the larger conflict of Irish independence, alluded to throughout the film on the distant shores of the mainland.

If I had to Google a film’s intent, did it tell its story well? I’d say no.

The assumption made in Banshees that the audience can pick up these threads without context (or without more context) is the same in Tár. Less buried, certainly. Banshees doesn’t have the same level of ostentation baked into the story, perhaps because this is set in a pastoral, less complicated existence. All the same, it was an uphill battle, at least for me, to put the micro conflict of Colm and Pádraic into focus with the macro.

That said, even with the muddled allegory, Banshees of Inisheirn delivers a more exciting and complete story than Todd Field’s Tár.

Is that going to be enough for Oscar gold? Maybe. The odds are still running pretty high for Banshees.

Performances are a different story. Gleeson and Keoghan are in a very tough field. While I don’t think they have a chance, the recognition is well deserved. Condon also has an uphill battle but I don’t think this film would be the same without her. Farrell’s chances are slim but definitely a performance worth nominating.

What do you think? Comment below!