THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN (no spoilers)

[moviePig]

In a 1923 Irish coastal island village, two lifelong friends have an
unusual falling out. THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN, on HBOMax, stars two
thespian heavyweights, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, previously
teamed by the delightful IN BRUGES from the same writer-director. The
reach here is deeper and more affecting, and not to be missed. Highly
recommended.

[Irish Mike]

Two things:
First thing. I love Ireland.
My family is from there, I've been
going there for decades and I've traveled
extensively in every Province and County.
I love their music, literature, history and culture.

"Banshees of Inisherin" is set on a (fictitious)
island off the West Coast of Ireland in 1923.
The setting is realistic, the scenery is beautiful
and Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell are both
excellent actors.

Second thing: This is one of the dumbest plot lines
I've ever seen! Silly, idiotic and ridiculous. I sat through
it to the end but you'd have to pay me to watch it again!

Now in all fairness, the movie won several artistic awards
and I freely admit I ain't a very artistic guy. Possibly
Mr. Pig and his artsy-fartsy friends found something in this
film that escapes me. Entirely possible - but you be the judge.

Irish Mike

[moviePig]

Serious reply: I found this to be a personal contender for the (past)
year's best movie so far (as did more than a few pro critics) and that
has nothing to do with "artiness" but rather with its wealth of content.
That said, however, I've found that movies that send some viewers over
the top tend also to send some others straight to the bottom -- while
the most generally agreed-upon "quality" seems to be mediocrity.

[Your Name]

On 2023-01-06 22:24:19 +0000, Irish Mike said:

> On Friday, January 6, 2023 at 11:45:19 AM UTC-5, pwal...@moviepig.com wrote:
>> In a 1923 Irish coastal island village, two lifelong friends have an
>> unusual falling out. THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN, on HBOMax, stars two
>> thespian heavyweights, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, previously
>> teamed by the delightful IN BRUGES from the same writer-director. The
>> reach here is deeper and more affecting, and not to be missed. Highly
>> recommended.
>
> Two things:
> First thing. I love Ireland.
> My family is from there, I've been
> going there for decades and I've traveled
> extensively in every Province and County.
> I love their music, literature, history and culture.
>
> "Banshees of Inisherin" is set on a (fictitious)
> island off the West Coast of Ireland in 1923.
> The setting is realistic, the scenery is beautiful
> and Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell are both
> excellent actors.
>
> Second thing: This is one of the dumbest plot lines
> I've ever seen! Silly, idiotic and ridiculous.

It's meant to be, it's a "dark comedy" ... and those are usually weird,
silly, and best avoided unless you've got a warped brain.

It could have been far worse: it might have been made by wacko Tim
Burntbum and starring his favourite co-horts Johnny Dipstick and Helena
Boneyham-Crapter. :-)

[trotsky]

I would think out of respect you'd actually refer to Martin Donavan by
name. He's a consistently interesting filmmaker.

[Bice]

On Fri, 6 Jan 2023 11:45:15 -0500, moviePig <pwal...@moviepig.com>
wrote:

My daughter and I watched it over the holidays and liked it so much we
talked my wife into watching it, mostly so we'd have an excuse to
watch it again.

Parts of it were really funny, like actual laugh out loud funny and
not just wry smile funny. And I want to have a pint outside that pub
with the view of the coast.

On the other hand (no pun intended), Colm's plan for keeping Padraic
away in order to be able to work on his music didn't seem very well
thought out since it would obviously prevent him from being able to
play violin.

Still a great movie though.

-- Bob

[moviePig]

At the risk of committing "symbolism", I'll offer that Colm's pyrrhic
plan might've meant to parallel the enduring conflict on the mainland.
And, yeah, I'm expecting this flick to be my personal best of '22.

[Bice]

On Tue, 10 Jan 2023 10:00:25 -0500, moviePig <pwal...@moviepig.com>
wrote:

>On 1/10/2023 7:46 AM, Bice wrote:
>>
>> On the other hand (no pun intended), Colm's plan for keeping Padraic
>> away in order to be able to work on his music didn't seem very well
>> thought out since it would obviously prevent him from being able to
>> play violin.
>

> At the risk of committing "symbolism", I'll offer that Colm's pyrrhic
>plan might've meant to parallel the enduring conflict on the mainland.

That would certainly go along with:

"You don't care who's executing who?"

"For six bob and a free lunch, I don't care. They could be executing
you."

-- Bob

[Bill Anderson]

SPOILERS below:

Mike, I have to say I agree with everything you wrote. Yes, the movie was
beautiful to look at and the setting was charming (I really want to have a
pint at that pub) and the acting was outstanding (just look at the despair
and puzzlement play out on Colin Farrell’s face) and yeah, on the surface
the film looks terrific.

But I hated what I was seeing so much that I turned the movie off about
halfway through, not too long after the first finger was flung. Instead of
watching I went to Wikipedia and read everything revolting thing that
happens. I don’t want to watch that movie. I don’t understand how anybody
could enjoy watching that movie. Moviepig liked it, but he likes horror
movies and that is pretty much what this thing is.

But let me be clear, it isn’t the horror that turned me off so much as it
is the stupidity. Sure, I see the parallel between the story and the
troubles on the mainland. The movie practically clobbers you over the head
with metaphor. “We used to like each other. We used to fight only the
British and now we are fighting each other. We are not nice to each other
anymore. We are being self-destructive.” And yada yada gloom despair and
agony on me.

King Lear is regarded as a great play, but I hate that story because Lear
is stupendously stupid. I don’t enjoy watching stupid.

--
Bill Anderson

I am the Mighty Favog

[moviePig]

For the record... if I'd felt it stopped at the "parallel", I'd have
rated it lower. But I think it reached for more, and then it had me.

[Bill Anderson]

What “more” do you think it was reaching for? Something to do with
mid-life, or in this case old-life crisis? This is a serious question.

[moviePig]

You know, the usual: the folly and absurdity of man's idealism, of which
the troubles on the mainland were just another example.

[trotsky]

On 1/6/23 10:45 AM, moviePig wrote:
>

Just watched this and had the same reaction. Top notch all the way
around: writing, directing, acting, cinematography, music--top notch in
every category. Really interesting characters in a struggle you
probably wouldn't have imagined. Interesting themes about human
relationships. Slightly mystical to boot. Every movie McDonagh has
done has been outstanding. (I may have called him "Donahue" previously
due to a brain cramp.) I may or may not watch this again, the only
issue I would have is the death of animals is very disturbing to me,
even if fictional. But I would recommend it to anyone who likes movies.

[trotsky]

On 1/6/23 5:32 PM, Your Name wrote:
> On 2023-01-06 22:24:19 +0000, Irish Mike said:
>
>> On Friday, January 6, 2023 at 11:45:19 AM UTC-5, pwal...@moviepig.com
>> wrote:
>>> In a 1923 Irish coastal island village, two lifelong friends have an
>>> unusual falling out. THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN, on HBOMax, stars two
>>> thespian heavyweights, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, previously
>>> teamed by the delightful IN BRUGES from the same writer-director. The
>>> reach here is deeper and more affecting, and not to be missed. Highly
>>> recommended.
>>
>> Two things:
>> First thing. I love Ireland.
>> My family is from there, I've been
>> going there for decades and I've traveled
>> extensively in every Province and County.
>> I love their music, literature, history and culture.
>>
>> "Banshees of Inisherin" is set on a (fictitious)
>> island off the West Coast of Ireland in 1923.
>> The setting is realistic, the scenery is beautiful
>> and Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell are both
>> excellent actors.
>>
>> Second thing: This is one of the dumbest plot lines
>> I've ever seen! Silly, idiotic and ridiculous.
>
> It's meant to be, it's a "dark comedy" ...

Holy fuck this guy is one stupid kiwi.

[trotsky]

McDonagh-my bad.

[trotsky]

Colm was grappling with existentialism. Period. I didn't see any
parallels with the civil war other than he was having a "civil war" with
his erstwhile friend. In fact, in retrospect I think that is the parallel.

[moviePig]

Yes about animal death, although this was the rare flick wherein human
death was nearly as affecting.

[moviePig]

The parallel would lie in the ultimate silliness of the two conflicts.

[trotsky]

That's not entirely true. The casual observer sees it as silly but the
participants don't. In both cases. Colm as dead serious about his
existential plight and wanting some semblance of substance in his life.

[moviePig]

Yes, 'silliness' only from the ultimate cosmic view.

http://www.goalcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Moli%C3%A8re-quote-tragedy-comedy.jpg

[trotsky]

I'll see you one Moliere quote and raise you the opening line from DH
Lawrence's "Lady Chatterley's Lover:"

"Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically."