YNOT at the Movies

Getting dumped is never easy to cope with, no matter if it's a romantic relationship or a friendship. In the writer-director Martin McDonagh's melancholy dark comedy "The Banshees of Inisherin" (Ireland/UK/USA 2022 | 109 min.), that disappointment of being dumped goes to a whole new level, with devastating consequences.

The time is 1923 while the Irish Civil War is raging on. The location is a remote island called Inisherin (fictional) off the war zone, where the residents are indifferent about the fighting on the mainland. The one who gets dumped is one of the Inisherin residents, the jaunty Pádraic Súilleabháin (Colin Farrell). His daily routine couldn't be any simpler: herding cows, feeding and adoring his donkey Jenny, and going to the pub to drink beer with his buddy Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson).

At the opening of the film, passing through the breathtakingly beautiful terrain, Pádraic reaches Colm's beach-front house as usual. But today, something very usual happens: Colm ignores Pádraic and doesn't open the door for him. Soon, Colm gives Pádraic the earth-shaking news: "I just don't like you no more."

Pádraic cannot comprehend how it's possible for Colm to end a decades-long friendship with such a nice guy like himself. Nor can Pádraic's sister Siobhan (Kerry Condon), his friend Dominic Kearney (Barry Keoghan), the Priest (David Pearse), and just about everyone else in this small town where everyone knows everybody else's business, including the elderly woman, Mrs. McCormick (Sheila Flitton) who is the embodiment of the banshee that predicts the life and death on this little island.

When Pádraic tries hard to regain the friendship with Colm, Colm points out bluntly that Pádraic is dull and "I just don't have a place for dullness in me life anymore." Ouch! Colm is a fiddle player and wants to spend his time making music that can last after he is gone. To make the matter absolutely clear, Colm issues an ultimatum to Pádraic and asks him not to contact him ever again.

If Pádraic needs psychotherapy for the heartbreaking breakup, he certainly is not able to find one on this little tiny despairing but scenic island.

In his hilarious feature directorial debut "In Bruges" (2008), the writer-director Martin McDonagh delightfully put the duo Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson together to deliver a timeless buddy comedy. In this quirky new film, he reunited these two terrific actors once again to play two eccentric and heartfelt characters. However, this time the creation is more sad than funny.

Superbly playing the confused and devastated Pádraic, Colin Farrell won the Best Actor Award at this year's Venice Film Festival. Portraying the stubborn musician who senses the urgency to leave a mark on the earth and takes an abrupt action, Brendan Gleeson was just as good as his counterpart.

No matter which side you are while watching the saga of the two pals' split, you probably can empathize with them or even be reminded of your own experiences. Of course, you probably go through them without an extreme ultimatum similar to the one in the film. This unconventional story about these two mesmerizing characters might provoke you to reflect on the true meanings of just about any relationship.

"The Banshees of Inisherin" opens in the San Francisco Bay Area on Friday, October 28, 2022.