On the Red Carpet with: The Banshees of Inisherin
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The Banshees of Inisherin had it’s world premiere back at the start of September at Venice Film Festival, and it was so well received that Colin Farrell tried to leave half way through the 15 minute standing ovation. It follows Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson) and his lifelong pal Pádraic Súilleabháin (Colin Farrell) after Colm decides he no longer likes Pádraic, and doesn’t want to speak to him again. Things get quite sharp shall we say, when Pádraic refuses to leave his old friend alone.
Since then it has continued to be exceptionally well received. It currently holds a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Colin and Brendan are being spoken about as top contendors for next years Oscar’s, and people are saying it is some of Martin McDonagh’s finest work. High praise when you factor in his last work was Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, which saw him win the Oscar for Best Motion Picture and Best Screenplay, as well as a nomination for Best Director.
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How did he go about combining the dark humour of a black comedy with deep emotion, to create such a beautiful piece? How was it to film in Ireland, and were there subtle nods to the Irish Civil War that was happening in 1923, when this film was set? I got to ask him when the film had it’s UK premiere at London Film Festival.
“In some ways, it’s as simple as trying to capture the sadness of a break-up,” he says, “perhaps that’s a bit more surpring as it’s between two platonic guys. But I think everything I do is kind of naturally a dark comedy so that was always going to be a part of it. But capturing that sadness was the number one thing.”
And that wasn’t too difficult to capture when working with Colin and Brendan, who he says are a “dream to work with, and they jumped at the chance to work together again.” This trio worked together for the first time in 2008, in McDonagh’s feature length debut, In Bruges. “We’ve gotta do it again sooner than another 14 years!”
Even if you don’t know much about the Irish Civil War, you’ll probably know it involved Catholics and Protestants, and with the tensions on the isle of Inisherin in this film meant to echo what was happening on mainland Ireland at the time, I had to know - was it intentional that Colm and Pádraic’s names are reminiscent of Catholic and Protestant? The answer is it was an accidental stroke of genius from Martin. “That is total coincidence. I didn’t even notice that until just now. That’s a really good point, I’m going to run with that for the rest of the Q&As!” There you go, if you hear Martin McDonagh using that line, you hear it here first folks.
Banshees really couldn’t be more Irish without the entire thing being in Gaeilge - the cast is Irish, it’s filmed in Ireland, it’s set against the Irish Civil War, and Martin McDonagh is British-Irish. How was it to be filming somewhere they all call home? Fantastic, according to Martin. This is the first time he’s ever made a feature film in Ireland - though he has made a short film, and staged multiple plays - and he said it was a dream. The best part though? “My mum and dad live over there, so I was able to go and see them on weekends.”
The Banshees of Inisherin is in cinemas now.