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Something that gets overlooked a lot in this film is that it’s a sort of antithesis to traditional American-Irish films that longingly portray old Ireland as quainter, simpler, happier, which far from reality. The way Padraic doesn’t want to deal with his best friends mental health problems, a man who is literally self mutilating, how a young man is driven to suicide after a childhood of being molested by his father, which the rest of the community knows but doesn’t address or do anything about. These kind of things were going on behind closed doors in all small, closely knitted Catholic communities at the time, which is something the Irish diaspora tend to forget and instead they portray their home of Ireland as a sort of golden land across the sea, when Ireland of the time couldn’t be further from the truth. Old Ireland was hard, brutal and thankless.
100% agree, everyone acts like Ireland is the Shire or something, but most of its history for the past few hundred years, it's been kind of a hellscape.
@@RockyGems this exactly. Like, When America were working on putting a man on the moon, there were still a vast number of communities in Galway without electricity or running water and poverty on par with that seen during the famine. Half a million people emigrated in the 1950s alone like. There was literally nothing here
@@cilliancallaghan9788 You should realize that putting a man on the Moon was a political battle against the Soviet Union and had nothing to do with actual space exploration. But on the other hand, half the medications you use on a regular basis, the CDs you listened to, your microwave and frozen food (and even if you don't use those things, millions do and it generates employment for many millions more) came from space exploration. And that's now how economy works. The pittance spent on space exploration (frankly, NASA's entire annual budget is less than a 100th of a dollar per US taxpayer, which is ridiculous beyond belief) is nothing short of farcical. But even if that money weren't spent there, it would NOT go to solve hunger or poverty, because those issues are not economical, but political in nature. NOT ONE SINGLE politician wants a world without starving and pover-line people. And most taxpayers don't either. CF the milions of Americans who are against free health care because "I don't want my tax money going to support free hospitals for bums", displaying a fundamental misunderstanding of how the system works and also how any one of those taxpayers could become one of those bums overnight if they lost their jobs, especially in America.
@@cilliancallaghan9788 if we want to talk about nations with better histories than Ireland, please don’t bring up the comedy that is the choking capitalist hellscape of the USA.
@@alexandresobreiramartins9461 oh for sure! The point I’m making is, America, just across the water, was literally putting a man on a celestial body and at the same time, on the other side of the Atlantic, was a part of Ireland in which the way of life was still the same as it had been 600 years prior! The people of Galway were literally living the same lives as peasants had in the 1400s.
Dominic to me was the saddest part of the movie. He’s abused but is still nice and sympathetic to everyone. The entire village looks down on him for being the village idiot but when he actually talks, he’s the most levelheaded and intelligent of the group. Literally the only thing he had to hold onto was one day marrying the woman of his dreams and then she not only rejected him but left the island.
She has her own life to live, though. She was at least a decade older than him and didn't want to waste any more of her youngest years living on the island where she was miserable and suffering when she had a chance to follow her passion and go work in a library. Even after leaving she goes as far to write her brother and not only tell him to come over to the mainland but also that she has a place for him. She's a definitely what I would classify as a good person and unfortunately, she doesn't owe Dominic anything, especially any sort of relationship. I completely agree with his situation being horribly tragic though.
Everyone calls him an idiot but he’s clearly one of the smartest and most perceptive of all of them. I would guess that he is simply on the spectrum and so is labelled an idiot incorrectly
it is the most obvious part of the film that highlights the conflict between trying to important locally vs trying to be important globally. That doesn't really make sense so let me rephrase it: Colm is feeling despair, he feels like he has no time left and he wants to be remembered for his music and his songs, he wants to be known in 200 years like Mozart, he wants to leave a large impact and be widely remembered after his passing. Padraic is really just a "happy-lad" and only cares about the people in his life and being nice to them/people in general. Padraic doesn't care about music lasting after death and he doesn't care about the fact that no one will remember him in 50 years because "My name is Padraic Suillibhean and I'm nice" Colm's desire to make an impact on the world vs Padraic's desire to make an impact on the immediate people around him
@@thedeep436 Dude what is your deal with your fucking post about his fingers? You're literally replying to every single person to take a look if they have the time. FFS enough
The scene where Colm helps Padric up to his cart and Padric starts crying is so heartbreaking. Yeah he’s upset that the local cop beat him and embarrassed him in public but it’s the realization that his best friend in the world wants nothing to do with him that sends him over.
This one hurt me almost as much as the death of the sweet little donkey. When that happened, I was watching all alone and found myself yelling "no, no, not the donkey!" 😫
I started bawling my eyes out at that scene. It was the biggest hammer blow of the whole movie. It's like, Colm's there in a physical sense, sitting next to Padraic, caressing his shoulder, but he's not there at the same time. He's abandoned Padraic and Padraic simply doesn't know how to deal with it.
This is the scene that impacted me the most. Rejection through no actual fault of your own. You're just unwanted and there's nothing you can do about it. It's shown again when Dominic is rejected by Siobhan. It's a very painful but intriguing movie.
One thing I LOVE about this movie is what it chooses NOT to do with Padriac's development. I thought for sure we were going to have a scene where he lashes out at his sister and that would be her final straw to leave the island. But he doesn't. He never mistreats her. He does the opposite. He compliments her both in and out of her presence and treats her better than anyone else on the island. Making the decision for her to leave so much more impactful to me.
The thing that makes me wonder about this movie is the way Colm never leaves Inisherin. If his dream is to be successful in music and be remembered for centuries, there's no way for him to accomplish that on a tiny island off the Irish coast, and really, he doesn't change his lifestyle much anyway - every day is him staying at home and then going to the pub. If Colm had left, Padraic would have been sad and would wish he'd come back, like with Siobahn, but he would have ultimately understood. Instead, Colm decides to not only stay on the island, but carry out his estrangement in a way that would ensure drama. He's like everyone else on Inisherin, whiling away their time until death instead of making a meaningful change like Siobahn. The fact that he's willing to cut his fingers off proves that the violin really wasn't something he cared all that much about - he wanted it to be his dream, but it wasn't. I think Banshees gets at the heart of why feuds and squabbles are so persistent and so often are never resolved except with death. Deep down, they're really about self hatred, just projected onto other people.
I can imagine a reason as to why Colm never left, and it sorta ties into how he wanted the violin to be his dream but it wasn't: On the Island, he was someone (or could have been someone) who was recognized for being a notable musician/composer. A big fish in a small pond, so to speak. If he left, he would likely be confronted with the fact that his music wouldn't leave an impression on the world, and that audiences would largely ignore him.
@@ddenti99 Lol, no it isn't. They hint a few times what the issue is when he talks to the priest. Most likely bouts of depression. Pride has nothing to do with it.
I think his conversations with the priest are the closest we every get to a "why" he doesn't leave the island (if there is even a reason, he may have just not wanted to). He clearly suffers from some kind of mental health issue (aside from the self mutilation), probably bouts of depression.
@@joenobody5913 There's depression there, of course. But in my interpretation, ego and pride are also playing a role here. Anyways, that's just my view on it.
Did anyone else notice that the stick the old lady was walking with at the end was the same stick Dominic was holding at the beginning of the movie. The stick with the hook at the end. He was also talking about how it can be used to pull things towards you. At the end. His own body was pulled with it.
Movie ended up hitting me pretty hard. The situation between Padraic and Colm is *extremely* similar to the complete breakdown of the friendship between my brother (with whom I am very close) and our cousin (whom we used to be very close with). Just randomly shut him out one day and the fallout from that decision basically completely destroyed our entire family dynamic, with our grandparents getting dragged in and everyone needing to take sides. It's been 3 years now since it happened, and we still don't know the actual reason behind why our cousin did it.
Deep down, either you or your brother knows. Maybe even your cousin knows. It's just so small, petty and disproportionate to the resultant reactions, everyone is embarrassed to say.
@@castorchua that's honestly what we've settled on. That it was something so petty and small that he didn't even register it as offensive, and things have escalated so far now that he'd look insane if it came out what happened.
My interpretation (for what it's worth): Colm is actually jealous of Padraic. Padraic is younger, 'nice', has a loving sister and is content .. regardless of what the future ahead might be. Colm, deep down, knows that he and he alone, is responsible for having not left the island a long time ago to pursue his dreams. He has gone insane and if their back story was actually shown, I would bet that he was never a genuine friend to Padraic even then! Colm is a bitter man at heart and has given up hiding it when we meet him in the movie. Love this film!
I'm so glad you decided to cover this movie! While not a "horror", it's very haunting, melancholy, and of course Irish. It was one of my favorites of the year.
Colm resents Pádraic for being content with his simple life and not being concerned with having a legacy or being remembered beyond those he cares about in life. Colm, due to his frustration with his own existence, concludes that the only reason Pádraic is so content and untroubled is because he is dull and stupid. Colm projects his own fears and insecurities onto Pádraic and resents him for it. By snubbing Pádraic, Colm keeps these fears and insecurities at arms length and lends himself an air of superiority as a coping mechanism. Ironically I think Pádraic is actually Colm's muse, after each encounter with an impassioned Pádraic Colm seems to progress with his work on his magnum opus 'The Banshees of Inisherin'. Each time he rebuffs Pádraic he cuts off a finger and thereby literally and metaphorically loses his ability to create music.
Not really maybe he really just want to work on his music and not being told what someone found in their donkey's S#it for two hours. He doesn't have to project his insecurity on colin to get to his decision and he probably decided to chop of his fingers because if the fellow won't leave him alone he will loose his ability to create music so remove the possibility of rather doing something which makes being friends with colin frustrating and makes him feel like it's waste of his time
Personally I saw it as a tale of accepting your death or the death of someone else. Padraic still not saying they're even at the end and only would have been if Colm had stayed in the house felt like Padraic saying he'd only stop trying to talk to him if he was dead. Colm thanking Padraic after cutting his fingers off felt like it was him getting ready for death as he'd no longer be able to play music when he's finally dead. Any of Colm's conversations with Siobhan reveal his true mindset. Asking if they're just killing time before the inevitable. I agree with Colm but that's just the nature of life, we were given time without asking for it and we must fill it or refuse it. I empathise with both men and being Irish and having people ghost you like Padraic makes you wonder why you were even friends with them in the first place. They could die but it would never feel like the relationship is over or in anyway settled.
I think towards the end it becomes clearer that Colm is dealing with profound dread, perhaps an existential crisis feeling his time is running out. The priest mentions this in the last confession, which really rounded out my understanding of what Colm was going through…he did not want to drag Patrick into it as well, so pushed him away. Patrick would never understand this type of dread, so would be an unfulfilling waste of time in his eyes. But in the final scene, you get a sense they are closer to the same level, rebalanced. Not necessarily friends, but with better understanding.
Colm's despair is referred to twice - in both confessional scenes. 'Hope' being one of the three cardinal virtues in Catholicism, despair has a taint of sin
On the same day I watched this film, my boyfriend said he didn't love me anymore. He simply continued being happy, but I wasn't part of his happiness anymore. "But you liked me yesterday ?" The incomprehension, denial, distress, anger, despair, resignation. You start questioning who you are. All the emotions I went through were so beautifully depicted in the film, with great accuracy. It truly blew me away.
My personal most intense reading of the story was confirmed when Colm says he's grateful to have lost all the fingers, his anxiety of dying as an artist that did not manage to leave anyting behind is the source of his suffering, by finding an external reason to get rid of his fingers he gets rid of a way to achieve that, giving himself just one chance with the piece he's writing. I know it's very individual and there's so many themes to read in this movie, but we all find what most touches us as struggles and similarities. The burden of unfulfilled art can be soul crushing where you rather mutilate yourself thatn fight the battle.
I enjoyed this so much more than I expected, the simple phrase “How’s the despair “ keeps etching itself into my mind , such a good portrayal of depression and relationships
This story really messed me up, literally 4 days before seeing this in the cinema my best friend from childhood told me he didn't want to be my friend anymore. which made this film so hard to watch. I really enjoyed it, but i'm not sure i can see it for a while as it feels far too raw atm.
Sorry to hear that. Take time for yourself and try to be kind to yourself as you go through this, lean on your other friends for help. Best wishes to you.
I'm really sorry... I've lost my long time friend too and I don't actually have other friends at all, this was the last one I had and it was my own kind of dullness that drove him away. It's painful because I know I won't be able to make a friend like that again, it was an opportunity that I busted. I didn't have to mess it up, there's probably a reality where I made better choices and still have him to talk to but it's not now and I don't know what I'll do about it
@@stevesteverson he sounds exciting to me. suck a lot of phallus is a very interesting s/n. Listen dudes. I'm 30 and I've had 3 best friends, each lasting a decade or so. People change, move away, etc. I don't got one right now, nor a woman, but I do have a family like anybody currently living must have. (if not well damn). Anyway it's okay to be alone. I play music, go to work, hobby on days off, and keep an eye out for the next one. If the next friend/relationship doesn't come I'm okay with that too because I'm okay with myself. Don't be bitter and don't feel despair. Hell you were born and that means someone out there loves you (*again* if your a test tube baby well damn).
My reading of why Colm stops talking to Pádraic is that because of the isolation and war, Colm is coming to grasp with his mortality and his legacy as an artist. He is looking for things he can blame for his lack of creation. If Pádraic wasn't there he would've been immortalised through his work, and when Pádraic doesn't go away he will chop off his fingers and they have another reason to not create. He is incable of taking on the responsibility for his lack of creation and 'immortality'. But what he fails to understand is that all he has is the island. On the other hand, Siobhán, who is in someways like Colm, does take the responsibily to change and leave the island even when Pádraic tries to stop her. It's not easy for her but she does it. Colm is looking for things to blame and not have to deal with the responsibily.
I watched this movie with my mother recently, and she noted an interesting line that Colm has at one point. And it’s something that I think says a lot about his character and his actions in the film. When he’s in the confessional with the priest, Colm says he has feelings of Pride, but that he doesn’t view Pride as a sin. For one, he’s saying that to a priest, a man who could probably tell him that Pride is actually one of the Seven Deadly Sins. But also, given that, consider the reasons he gives for why he wants to dump Padraic. Colm says he wants to leave his impression on the world, especially in his musical compositions (something also noted when he says everyone remembers the music of Mozart over anyone who was kind at the same time), and that his aimless conversations with Padraic prevent him from reaching his full artistic potential. You wouldn’t be thinking you have enough musical talent to create something and block longtime friends from your life without a considerable amount of Pride, in a sense. Also, the main reason he cuts the rest of his fingers off is because Padraic admits he sent one of Colm’s prized pupils back to the mainland. To Colm, this could be someone who could spread his music to the world, and his former friend just took THAT guy out of his life. So if someone who was already indoctrinated into his “musical genius” (something that requires pride to get in the mindset of) is no longer around, why should he keep his own musical talent? At least that’s one way to look at it.
I actually picked up on the same thing. To be at that age and just now start having an existential crisis about meaning in life is pretty egotistical in that if your 70+ years old, how have you been so consumed in your own thought that you just now are thinking about the thoughts of others about you. I'm not saying this is a good thing to be thinking, but it never crossed his mind? Most of us are janitors, a few of us are Tom Brady. Tom Brady wouldn't be Tom Brady if we were all Tom Brady lol. I don't know, I'm a bit "northern english" myself so I get the nuance of both characters. Nihilism and optimism run concurrently in my viens Have kids. You'll find your purpose there if you aren't complete piece of shite! :)
To me it stood out much more how hypocritical and, as Siobahn correctly states, dull Colm is himself. He has nothing to show for himself apart from a musical dream which he seems to have picked up on a whim. He doesn’t leave the island and instead has students come to him, because it’s more comfortable. He doesn’t even know about Mozart and willingly gives up his fingers because he is afraid of failure - or maybe deep down realizes he will not amount to much in the end with his past and current attitude. So it‘s easier to shift the blame onto someone else for a completely arbitrary reason. To me, being passionate involves sacrifice, but obviously not in a way that would jeopardize your dreams. Maybe Colm has convinced himself the leaving student is the reason but the truth would be that he is just a coward.
It’s not that the sister has not found anyone to love on the island - that is possibly part of it but not all of it - she wants something more than the island is able to offer…
Farrell described is a story about a good man, connected to the people around him and content with his lot, who discovers the cruelty and violence of the world leaving him isolated and depressed. I also thought that disconnect from the mainland where even the civil war barely registers means that trivialities take on the enormity of the war on the island instead, hence the excess of the responses to small slights. Also how we can drift along happily with a perception and image of ourselves, but when others reveal how they see us, that perception is shattered. Just as the rejection that Dominic receives finally shatters his optimism and destroys his hope that he could finally find a woman. I could go on - the more I think about it, the more I find. Superb multi-layered movie with outstanding performances.
If you could take a look at The Frighteners, that would be amazing! It’s a campy horror comedy about a guy who can talk with ghosts, and it’s one of Michael J Fox’s last film roles.
Films that go over these mundane, but emotionally poignant experiences are a jewel. Getting over a close relation that no longer want anything to do with you, for no discernible reason, is like mourning the dead. It's important to make up your mind to let go as soon as posible, and to understand that people are mostly powerless in these situations.
I really related to Padraic, because that would drive me insane. I would also not be rational. I would not believe that he'd cut one finger off, or go through with the others after. That's absolutely maddening! I'd have to know the reason. And if Colm gave me some half-baked "I want to make music to live on past me" oh... I'd be even more mad. You can't make music and have friends? it only took you a few days, man! Call me after, geeze. I also need Mrs. McCormic's outfit for ren fest. Top tier silhouette. Screw being a fair maiden, I want to be the harbinger of death.
I came to the conclusion that Colm just needed a scapegoat to justify his failed ambitions without placing full responsibility where it belongs: on himself.
@@taps_lock this, simply this, said in fewer words and better than me, was just looking if I was the only one reading that, especially when he feels relief in cutting hsi fingers so he has a reason he cannot ocmpose anymore rather than fight art
To be fair to Colm I can kinda see where he’s coming from if Padraic and him hang out every single day. Me personally I have people I speak to every single day and after a while it feels like I’m obligated to do stuff with them, I enjoy it but sometimes I wonder if I could spend the time working on a project or doing something on my own, it kinda puts me into a morality loop of “what should I do, should I hang out with my friends and have fun or knuckle down and accomplish a dream?” It’s especially hard if you have a 9-5 job that leaves you with less time at the end of the day to focus on your dreams. Now I’m not denying what Colm did was wrong, it was he put Padraic through mental torture by not just giving him a straight answer but I can see where he’s coming from
Every character in the film has someone eager to talk to them but they just don't wan't to talk. Padraic for Colm, Dominic for Padraic, the old woman (banshee?) for Shioban.
One thing I noticed on second viewing is how the shot at the beginning, with Padraic coming from behind the Mother Mary statue (shown at 0:26 ) mirrors the final shot with him leaving from behind the silhouette of the old lady/banshee (shown at 11:49)
I just think it’s refreshing to see an allegory to the conflict in Ireland which doesn’t portray it as an idealised narrative of nationalist saviours trying to free people from colonial dominion or a tragic narrative of violent revolutionaries chasing the promise of manifest destiny. It’s a bleak and incredibly human conflict born of two sides which could but for the problems on which they will never agree be friends. It’s just a really regrettable situation all-round but one which we can only hope will resolve amicably over time.
all thats fair, as wars go on they have a way of destroying their own justification and becoming more irrational and pointless as they go on but i mean I also think fair to say this war was clearly caused in the first place by English Imperialism, they directly threatened war and another invasion if the treaty was not signed. which gave the free staters very little choice, and they chose to collaborate with unionist pograms in the north to try and ethnically cleanse it so they could hold on to part of ireland, (only three counties had a clear unionist majority so they had to use alot of violence in the other two to drive people out manufacture a majority, where before they'd been fairly evenly split, as three counties wouldn't have been enough to really be a functioning long term polity and they needed more territory.) Not to say there weren't very deep divisions among the revolutionaries conservative Catholics vs secular socialist nationalists, and what form the economy would take, but they conceivably could have been solved peacefully without English intervention and partition.
@@chriss780 Could be the case, but it could also be more complicated than that. It certainly has become so over time. It’s all too attractive to assume there was ever going to be an easy or peaceful solution where a civil war is involved. In my experience the more you study the motives, justifications, incentives, biases, tragedies, etc that surround a civil war the less avoidable it seems to become and the less it fits comfortably into a narrative of which side is blameless in the conflict. At the end of the day the scars of the conflict remain and actions as foolish and human as those which ignited the conflict still threaten to open those wounds all over again. If there ever was an easy answer of who is to blame for the lack of a resolution the conflict has evolved past anything so convenient and all that’s left is to pray nobody needs to take up arms again.
I've always seen the concept of purgatory as the process of going somewhere eternally. Being in transit without ever getting to your destination. It can be comfortable and you never notice the journey never ending, or it can he miserable immortal traffic.
I think the real tragic character of this story was Dominic because, not even I took time time to feel bad for his death because I was so concerned about the other characters' fates. Dominic went through a lot.
This movie was haunting and sad. It really bothered me. Colm got what he wanted in the end but he completely broke his former friend to do it. He decided that Padraic wasn't what he wanted in life anymore and he couldn't just distance himself. He cut him off completely. Once he got what he wanted he realized that he broke Padraic to do it.
And still, he failed to do the one thing that would have REALLY given him the distance he claimed to want from Padraic: leave the damn island. It's damn near impossible to avoid a former friend in a town that small, even when the former friend is willing to let you go. He could have composed his "masterpiece" ANYWHERE else. It almost feels like he wanted to provoke a reaction out of Padriac.
6:50 Mrs. McCormick reminds me a lot visually and thematically of the Theodor Kittelsen drawing "She Covers the Whole Country - 1904" depicting The Black Death moving through the Norwegian mountainside as an unstoppable force of nature.
Now that I think of it, since Collum talks about getting old and wanting to be remembered. I think his anger at padaric for being “boring” is related to padaric having more time then he does since he’s younger. He thinks padaric is wasting time being nice and not pursuing leaving a legacy behind.
I keep having to explain this to people but I honestly believe it will help those who are unsure of what’s going on to actually understand what’s going on. Nice = Dull Those are the only two words used to describe our protagonist. And when does Colm say he actually likes his old friend again? After he is no longer nice, or dull. He wants excitement but in his mind that means anger or hate… because if Nice = Dull then it stands to reason that Mean = Excitement Anyway that’s my cheat sheet for understanding the movie a little easier. Happy new year!
I don’t necessarily think it was stubbornness on Padraic’s part. Emotionally unprepared to deal with Colm’s brutal and petty dismissal, yes. It’s having been kind to someone he’s known for years and to outright be rejected for it, by the end Colm’s personal despair has created a bitter man in Pádraic.
Oh I'm so glad you covered this! McDonagh Brothers films are always an event in this house. Loved how simple and moody this one was, somewhere between Calvary and In Bruges. RIP little Jenny 💛🌙🌟✨
I definitely related to Pádraic in this situation. From my experience, it seems like the majority of people flock to toxic friends who always know how to give a good conversation, while giving the cold shoulder to genuine friends who can sometimes be awkward.
I love how every other comment in here is "I really related to Padraic".....of course nobody related to Colm. Who the fuck does something like that? And the nuts who do are far to self serving to see it in someone else and think "oh wow I really relate to that!"
In the post office scene with Padraic, Dominics dad the policeman mentions a 29 year old walked into a lake & k*lled himself, Barry Keoghan is 30 so surely there's a connection there, did anyone else notice that?
The way I see it, I think that Colm might be an extreme narcissist. He wants to be remembered for his music and to leave a defining legacy left behind even if it means hurting those around him. He’s just so petty about his own passion for music that he’s willing to harm himself and others. However, in the end, after his ‘masterwork’, he starts to reopen up to Padric with some small talk. Sure, they’re relationship is extremely strange but almost in a frenenemies type of way. Feckin grate video, Ryan.
Saw this last night and loved it. I found it interesting that Colm and the Banshee are dressed very similarly. When they out of focus in the background they both look like this lurking black blog. Thanks for the video Ryan.
Decided to finally watch it after your vid came up on my feed and now i'm here for your analysis. Your point about the ending was so right! Thanks for putting it into words. To be honest, the second half of the film made me quite uncomfortable due to the self mutilation. I really don't get Colm other than he's probably depressed and for whatever reason he looks (by the beginning of the film) as unnecessarily mean to Padric who is overall a nice guy. But is he really? It's interesting how Padric becomes increasingly ''meaner'' as Colm becomes increasingly ''compassionate'' (taking as reference the beginning of the film), as shown by Padric's lies to the visiting musician, his words to Dominic, his demands to his sister and his final actions, and shown in Colm helping Padric after the police knocked him down, recognizing how interesting he can be after his drunken discourse at the pub, and feeling sorry for accidentally killing Jenny the donkey. Colm felt more of a catalyst than a fully fleshed character, which is very interesting because by the end of the film I ended up with a vague impression that there were two banshees: the first banshee (allegorical or real) is obviously the old lady. But Colm himself is a bringer of death in his own right (though also because of Padric's fault), a grim figure in his own right and most importantly, someone who seems to unknowingly announce calamities. The most prominent one would be the end of his relationship with Padric (a sort of death, arguably a killing on Colm's part at the start), though the most obvious would be the donkey's death. But there's also his own demise. Colm is a musician. Cutting off his own fingers not only shows his unwillingness to compromise and reflects what the priest refers to as ''despair''. It's beyond mutilation, he's quite literally seali g his fate and writing his own death: without livelihood, without his craft (and mind you, writing songs was at one point one of the arguments he had for cutting off ties with Padric), his very self identity. On a textual level, it's obvious that Colm needs help and though it's perfectly understandable people around him had no idea how to deal with that, it's frankly appalling that they just don't do anything at all (the scene of him bleeding all over the music sheets as the musicians play and he feasts in the pub being genuinely horrifying), no apparent attempt at talking, no doctor, nothing. It's just the very mild attempt of the priest during confession.... And Padric's ultimately misled but headstrong attempt to understand and just be by his hide. The thing is Padric wants his old friend (and perhaps most importantly, his routine) back, so to which point is he actually willing to accept an ill Colm? He does discuss it wit his sister, so I think he tried to help in his own way, but by the end we see a lot of it was based on selfishness and his fear of loneliness. A fear that came true. On a more subtextual level, Colm's mutilation is more of a metaphor and he is just someone who wants to let go. I have been in that situation too, having a friend go away and never return without any possible explanation. It just happens sometimes that people drift apart. And it hurts like hell, but we all do it. In this level of analysis Colm is not destructively self isolating but just genuinely wants to cut ties and be with other people and Padric -desperate, needy, lonely and simple Padric- won't let him. Colm hurts himself in an attempt to drive him away but maybe Padric doesn't care enough for his friend and i stead cares more about his own feelings. Both sin in their blindness and leave victims on the way (the victims being third parties, but also themselves). While I tink the movie wasn't satisfying (not much happens and as you pointed out, nothing gets solved) it was definitely thought provoking, very well made and stunning to look at. Also to me it wasn't comedic almost at all but it certainly felt absurdist. My favorite scenes were the one in which drunken Padric confronts Colm and reflects on niceness and the scene when Padric finds the poor donkey. The last scene is superb too. Thank you for your video!
excellent points re: Colm as a catalyst /bringer of death. It is a bit surreal how he just prances around the island with blood gushing out and somehow fails to develop an infection (and also, apparently teleports out of a burning house).
8:20 I actually disagree with this. I think when McCormick warns Padraic not to kill the dog, she (inadvertently maybe) makes sure that he doesn’t forget the dog when he burns down the house, avoiding another accidental death like Jenny’s.
I had a 10+ year friendship with a guy that gradually became a worse and worse person over the years - in the end, he never had a kind thing to say about anyone, he took what wasn't his from people who had less than him, he punched down at every opportunity he had and became bitterly vicious when things didn't go his way. I held on so long because I kept thinking about the guy I'd met years prior, who was funny and maybe rough around the edges, but was well-meaning. One day he came to visit and he casually said something so horrible about his roommate that, all at once, I just didn't like him anymore. It was just over in an instant for me, it was an almost eerie feeling, like he'd somehow just stomped on the smoldering remains of our friendship and it was just ash that was left. I told him I needed space. It's been 3 years and I still need space. This movie may have scratched at something for me.
I had just moved out of state by myself and knew no one when I watched this. Over the process I lost many friends. I felt so lonely so I went to the movies knowing nothing about this movie except that Colin was in it… I was very happy that it was there for me but man it made me cry so much 😭. So beautiful though I loved it. But I’m definitely waiting until I’m in a better headspace to get the bluray
One of cousins kept bringing up this movie & I thought nothing of it til I decided to randomly watch it one night & was immediately immersed in its story & characters. Great film
I watched this movie a little over a week ago. I love it. Farrell, Gleeson, Condon and Keoghan all give awesome, touching performances and the cinematography is gorgeous. I’ve been a fan of McDonagh since In Bruges and Banshees did not disappoint. Neither did this video. Big Ups Ryan! I’m actually surprised you chose this movie but I’m so glad you did. Also, a lesson I’ve learned throughout my life, which this movie reinforced, is that I’ll never be able to pronounce Irish names correctly. It’s just a lost cause at this point.
Colin Farrell's character didn't move on, Colm offered him truce, but Pádraic didn't shook his hand and told him, it would be over if he died, but he didn't so it won't be over until he dies. Pádraic said: "Some things there's no moving on from and I think that's a good thing." They are enemies now.
Some people have suggested that Colm died in the fire and Padraic is talking to a ghost. It would make sense inasmuch as Padraic's hatred and rage is all he has left.
martin mcdonagh is a cousin of mine cant say ive ever met him but strongly recommend visiting the aran islands in galway or anywhere in connemara if you like the scenery in this film,,,great video as always
I love you so much for covering this film! If I see you've uploaded a movie I haven't seen, I'll go watch the movie then watch your video. I'm not great at analyzing movies, HOYEVER, I love hearing others' analyses. Your videos are my favorite! I love what you have to say, how you say it, and the types of movies you cover. I've seen so many new fantastic movies bc you've done a video on them (Dog Soldiers, The House That Jack Built, Triangle, & Saint Maud to name a few). In summation: you're amazing, and I loved the vid 😊
I saw a parallel in the relationship between Padriac/Colm and Dominic/Padriac Padriac doesn’t like talking to Dominic but he always aproaches Padriac like they’re besties anyways. It makes me think that Padriac did the same thing to Colm, just deciding they were best friends. Colm was polite until he couldn’t tolerate it anymore and wanted to use his time more effectively. The way he cut Padriac off was so cold though. I bet if Colm had told him before hand padriac would’ve understood
@@thedeep436 My thoughts: How far would you go to stop your best friend from wasting his life? Would you sacrifice your passion? That was my thoughts on him cutting them off. I'll check out your comment right now
Well Julio, you might be interested in McDonagh's Oscar winning short from nearly twenty years ago, Six Shooter, has one of the kids from Into The West and the guy who plays the cop in this film also played a cop in Six Shooter, all those years ago (and the priest from this film played a guy who kills a cow). The is even a white rabbit link to Seven Psychopaths. Of course Brendan Gleeson played a cop in Into The West. Lots of links. ruclips.net/video/n_xMyx_SogA/видео.html
My brother and I argued thy couldn't just walk away because the Island was so small and everyone there is kinda isolated so it was kinda inevitable they were going to run into each other without knowing they were going the same way. It's kind of a theme in the film I think - the isolation brought on by the remote place which they live in.
Thank you Ryan for posting this. I watched it before watching the film but I still want to see this one. I had a falling out with one of my long time friends and we used to watch In Bruges together and thought it was hilarious. So when I saw this movie was coming out it brought up all these thoughts and feelings and a bittersweet smile knowing that Gleeson and Farrell were back together on film. I don't mind spoilers and I'd have seen it when it came out except I'm not doing so well in the pocket right now so it was either groceries or streaming services so I cut all my services off. Anyway, we all appreciate your work and for me especially this one.
This is one of my favorite movies, would’ve been the best of the year if it hadn’t come out the same year as Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. It was funny and heartbreaking. I’ve always liked Gleeson but I absolutely fell in love with him here. And Farrell was absolutely phenomenal.
Existentialist drama at its best! Angst, life without defined meaning, despair and self responsibility....Wow! I was blown away. Never expected this. Reminded me of Kafka's absurd bug man when he cuts off his fingers. Energized me completely to when I was younger learning about these things. Ironic if the writers never considered the angle. But that would be in keeping with the movie!
I knew there was a deep meaning to this movie but for a non Irish person it was hard to interpret and found it boring. But watching this video has given me an insight to the hidden folklore. I’ll watch this again with a different perspective and not just someone trying to win his friend over .
I had just talked with a friend who's having a hard time accepting how he and a few others have grown apart. Told him how it's just a part of life that happens, yet he always blames himself. I'm almost tempted to have him watch this review (the movie might break him c.c)
When you described the basis for the story I'm regards to the falling out, I stopped your video and immediately watched the film. I had a similar situation that I never got closure from. Someone I used to think was my best friend one day suddenly ghosted me and I have never gotten closure. He was supposed to be my best man :( After watching this movie, I don't think I will ever get that closure and at this point I'm not owed anything. I don't think we were rowling...
Thank you for this video and have a great year! I just saw this movie yesterday. I love it, but it's hard to understand. I do better now with your commentary.
*Have a non-horror request? I'd love to here about it in the comments!*
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Review
The Mothman Prophecies
Pi
eXistenZ
Butterfly Kisses
Razorback
The Road
@@tenebrousoul9368 Covered The Road!
@@RyanHollinger my apologies
Pinocchio with Pauly Shore. Although you did say non-horror movies.
Something that gets overlooked a lot in this film is that it’s a sort of antithesis to traditional American-Irish films that longingly portray old Ireland as quainter, simpler, happier, which far from reality. The way Padraic doesn’t want to deal with his best friends mental health problems, a man who is literally self mutilating, how a young man is driven to suicide after a childhood of being molested by his father, which the rest of the community knows but doesn’t address or do anything about. These kind of things were going on behind closed doors in all small, closely knitted Catholic communities at the time, which is something the Irish diaspora tend to forget and instead they portray their home of Ireland as a sort of golden land across the sea, when Ireland of the time couldn’t be further from the truth. Old Ireland was hard, brutal and thankless.
100% agree, everyone acts like Ireland is the Shire or something, but most of its history for the past few hundred years, it's been kind of a hellscape.
@@RockyGems this exactly. Like, When America were working on putting a man on the moon, there were still a vast number of communities in Galway without electricity or running water and poverty on par with that seen during the famine. Half a million people emigrated in the 1950s alone like. There was literally nothing here
@@cilliancallaghan9788 You should realize that putting a man on the Moon was a political battle against the Soviet Union and had nothing to do with actual space exploration. But on the other hand, half the medications you use on a regular basis, the CDs you listened to, your microwave and frozen food (and even if you don't use those things, millions do and it generates employment for many millions more) came from space exploration. And that's now how economy works. The pittance spent on space exploration (frankly, NASA's entire annual budget is less than a 100th of a dollar per US taxpayer, which is ridiculous beyond belief) is nothing short of farcical. But even if that money weren't spent there, it would NOT go to solve hunger or poverty, because those issues are not economical, but political in nature. NOT ONE SINGLE politician wants a world without starving and pover-line people. And most taxpayers don't either. CF the milions of Americans who are against free health care because "I don't want my tax money going to support free hospitals for bums", displaying a fundamental misunderstanding of how the system works and also how any one of those taxpayers could become one of those bums overnight if they lost their jobs, especially in America.
@@cilliancallaghan9788 if we want to talk about nations with better histories than Ireland, please don’t bring up the comedy that is the choking capitalist hellscape of the USA.
@@alexandresobreiramartins9461 oh for sure! The point I’m making is, America, just across the water, was literally putting a man on a celestial body and at the same time, on the other side of the Atlantic, was a part of Ireland in which the way of life was still the same as it had been 600 years prior! The people of Galway were literally living the same lives as peasants had in the 1400s.
Dominic to me was the saddest part of the movie. He’s abused but is still nice and sympathetic to everyone. The entire village looks down on him for being the village idiot but when he actually talks, he’s the most levelheaded and intelligent of the group. Literally the only thing he had to hold onto was one day marrying the woman of his dreams and then she not only rejected him but left the island.
She has her own life to live, though. She was at least a decade older than him and didn't want to waste any more of her youngest years living on the island where she was miserable and suffering when she had a chance to follow her passion and go work in a library. Even after leaving she goes as far to write her brother and not only tell him to come over to the mainland but also that she has a place for him. She's a definitely what I would classify as a good person and unfortunately, she doesn't owe Dominic anything, especially any sort of relationship. I completely agree with his situation being horribly tragic though.
@@chaoticfirearm Oh I know. I didn’t want her to stay or anything. I was just explaining why I thought Dominic’s story was so tragic.
Everyone calls him an idiot but he’s clearly one of the smartest and most perceptive of all of them. I would guess that he is simply on the spectrum and so is labelled an idiot incorrectly
@@motherplayer I took it as him finally realizing what a shit person he is as it finally affects him
@@woopimright Yes. Same. Just another example of not knowing what you had or how horrible you were til it's gone....
Padraic's drunk speech about being nice is easily the best part of the movie.
it is the most obvious part of the film that highlights the conflict between trying to important locally vs trying to be important globally. That doesn't really make sense so let me rephrase it:
Colm is feeling despair, he feels like he has no time left and he wants to be remembered for his music and his songs, he wants to be known in 200 years like Mozart, he wants to leave a large impact and be widely remembered after his passing.
Padraic is really just a "happy-lad" and only cares about the people in his life and being nice to them/people in general. Padraic doesn't care about music lasting after death and he doesn't care about the fact that no one will remember him in 50 years because "My name is Padraic Suillibhean and I'm nice"
Colm's desire to make an impact on the world vs Padraic's desire to make an impact on the immediate people around him
@@mrelephant2283 it's the best part of the movie because Padraic fuckin' got Colm's ass, dude.
@@thedeep436 Dude what is your deal with your fucking post about his fingers? You're literally replying to every single person to take a look if they have the time. FFS enough
Interesting
No it isn't
The scene where Colm helps Padric up to his cart and Padric starts crying is so heartbreaking. Yeah he’s upset that the local cop beat him and embarrassed him in public but it’s the realization that his best friend in the world wants nothing to do with him that sends him over.
I really felt Padric’s pain in that scene
This one hurt me almost as much as the death of the sweet little donkey. When that happened, I was watching all alone and found myself yelling "no, no, not the donkey!" 😫
It reminded me of that evil hug Walter gave Jesse towards the end of Breaking Bad.
I started bawling my eyes out at that scene. It was the biggest hammer blow of the whole movie. It's like, Colm's there in a physical sense, sitting next to Padraic, caressing his shoulder, but he's not there at the same time. He's abandoned Padraic and Padraic simply doesn't know how to deal with it.
This is the scene that impacted me the most. Rejection through no actual fault of your own. You're just unwanted and there's nothing you can do about it. It's shown again when Dominic is rejected by Siobhan. It's a very painful but intriguing movie.
One thing I LOVE about this movie is what it chooses NOT to do with Padriac's development. I thought for sure we were going to have a scene where he lashes out at his sister and that would be her final straw to leave the island. But he doesn't. He never mistreats her. He does the opposite. He compliments her both in and out of her presence and treats her better than anyone else on the island. Making the decision for her to leave so much more impactful to me.
It makes things sadder because she knows how much Padraic will be hurt when she leaves, but she has to save herself.
The thing that makes me wonder about this movie is the way Colm never leaves Inisherin. If his dream is to be successful in music and be remembered for centuries, there's no way for him to accomplish that on a tiny island off the Irish coast, and really, he doesn't change his lifestyle much anyway - every day is him staying at home and then going to the pub. If Colm had left, Padraic would have been sad and would wish he'd come back, like with Siobahn, but he would have ultimately understood.
Instead, Colm decides to not only stay on the island, but carry out his estrangement in a way that would ensure drama. He's like everyone else on Inisherin, whiling away their time until death instead of making a meaningful change like Siobahn. The fact that he's willing to cut his fingers off proves that the violin really wasn't something he cared all that much about - he wanted it to be his dream, but it wasn't.
I think Banshees gets at the heart of why feuds and squabbles are so persistent and so often are never resolved except with death. Deep down, they're really about self hatred, just projected onto other people.
It's all about pride.
I can imagine a reason as to why Colm never left, and it sorta ties into how he wanted the violin to be his dream but it wasn't: On the Island, he was someone (or could have been someone) who was recognized for being a notable musician/composer. A big fish in a small pond, so to speak. If he left, he would likely be confronted with the fact that his music wouldn't leave an impression on the world, and that audiences would largely ignore him.
@@ddenti99 Lol, no it isn't. They hint a few times what the issue is when he talks to the priest. Most likely bouts of depression. Pride has nothing to do with it.
I think his conversations with the priest are the closest we every get to a "why" he doesn't leave the island (if there is even a reason, he may have just not wanted to). He clearly suffers from some kind of mental health issue (aside from the self mutilation), probably bouts of depression.
@@joenobody5913 There's depression there, of course. But in my interpretation, ego and pride are also playing a role here. Anyways, that's just my view on it.
Fun Fact: Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson agreed to be in the film seven years before it was greenlit
That's cool
Why is that cool/fun/special for you?
@@pinkimietz3243 I'm saying it's interesting they signed on to work on the film years in advance. It shows they trust each other and the writer.
@@pinkimietz3243 I've never seen the movie
I really like Colin Farrell as an actor
Did anyone else notice that the stick the old lady was walking with at the end was the same stick Dominic was holding at the beginning of the movie. The stick with the hook at the end. He was also talking about how it can be used to pull things towards you.
At the end. His own body was pulled with it.
Movie ended up hitting me pretty hard. The situation between Padraic and Colm is *extremely* similar to the complete breakdown of the friendship between my brother (with whom I am very close) and our cousin (whom we used to be very close with). Just randomly shut him out one day and the fallout from that decision basically completely destroyed our entire family dynamic, with our grandparents getting dragged in and everyone needing to take sides. It's been 3 years now since it happened, and we still don't know the actual reason behind why our cousin did it.
Interesting how something petty minor becomes majoe
Deep down, either you or your brother knows. Maybe even your cousin knows. It's just so small, petty and disproportionate to the resultant reactions, everyone is embarrassed to say.
@@castorchua that's honestly what we've settled on. That it was something so petty and small that he didn't even register it as offensive, and things have escalated so far now that he'd look insane if it came out what happened.
My interpretation (for what it's worth):
Colm is actually jealous of Padraic. Padraic is younger, 'nice', has a loving sister and is content .. regardless of what the future ahead might be.
Colm, deep down, knows that he and he alone, is responsible for having not left the island a long time ago to pursue his dreams. He has gone insane and if their back story was actually shown, I would bet that he was never a genuine friend to Padraic even then!
Colm is a bitter man at heart and has given up hiding it when we meet him in the movie.
Love this film!
I'm so glad you decided to cover this movie! While not a "horror", it's very haunting, melancholy, and of course Irish. It was one of my favorites of the year.
Colm resents Pádraic for being content with his simple life and not being concerned with having a legacy or being remembered beyond those he cares about in life. Colm, due to his frustration with his own existence, concludes that the only reason Pádraic is so content and untroubled is because he is dull and stupid.
Colm projects his own fears and insecurities onto Pádraic and resents him for it. By snubbing Pádraic, Colm keeps these fears and insecurities at arms length and lends himself an air of superiority as a coping mechanism.
Ironically I think Pádraic is actually Colm's muse, after each encounter with an impassioned Pádraic Colm seems to progress with his work on his magnum opus 'The Banshees of Inisherin'.
Each time he rebuffs Pádraic he cuts off a finger and thereby literally and metaphorically loses his ability to create music.
Justinian, your interpretation is the most fitting I've read up to now. Matches exactly what I felt watching the film and put it into words. Thanks!
Brilliant analysis
bro stole this so blatantly lmao
Not really maybe he really just want to work on his music and not being told what someone found in their donkey's S#it for two hours. He doesn't have to project his insecurity on colin to get to his decision and he probably decided to chop of his fingers because if the fellow won't leave him alone he will loose his ability to create music so remove the possibility of rather doing something which makes being friends with colin frustrating and makes him feel like it's waste of his time
@@TheKbthakur you’re daft and the message of the film went right past your head
Personally I saw it as a tale of accepting your death or the death of someone else. Padraic still not saying they're even at the end and only would have been if Colm had stayed in the house felt like Padraic saying he'd only stop trying to talk to him if he was dead. Colm thanking Padraic after cutting his fingers off felt like it was him getting ready for death as he'd no longer be able to play music when he's finally dead. Any of Colm's conversations with Siobhan reveal his true mindset. Asking if they're just killing time before the inevitable. I agree with Colm but that's just the nature of life, we were given time without asking for it and we must fill it or refuse it. I empathise with both men and being Irish and having people ghost you like Padraic makes you wonder why you were even friends with them in the first place. They could die but it would never feel like the relationship is over or in anyway settled.
I think towards the end it becomes clearer that Colm is dealing with profound dread, perhaps an existential crisis feeling his time is running out. The priest mentions this in the last confession, which really rounded out my understanding of what Colm was going through…he did not want to drag Patrick into it as well, so pushed him away. Patrick would never understand this type of dread, so would be an unfulfilling waste of time in his eyes. But in the final scene, you get a sense they are closer to the same level, rebalanced. Not necessarily friends, but with better understanding.
Colm's despair is referred to twice - in both confessional scenes.
'Hope' being one of the three cardinal virtues in Catholicism, despair has a taint of sin
@@mossfitz Someon mentions the 'pride of despair'. Colm says he never really saw pride as a sin.
On the same day I watched this film, my boyfriend said he didn't love me anymore. He simply continued being happy, but I wasn't part of his happiness anymore. "But you liked me yesterday ?" The incomprehension, denial, distress, anger, despair, resignation. You start questioning who you are. All the emotions I went through were so beautifully depicted in the film, with great accuracy. It truly blew me away.
So sorry , I hope you didn’t cut any fingers
They don't call the director Martin the magic touch mcdonagh for nothing
I have nightmares like this about my spouse. It's terrifying.
i wish you the best for these times.
Your own banshee.
I'm so glad you're talking about this film, I have not stopped thinking about it since I saw it
Same friend. It hooked into my brain hard!
Amazing
I’m not going to deny, I cried over what happened to Jenny💔
Me too, that was genuinely tragic 😭
So sad because so innocent
My favorite character in the movie... :(
I can't believe your man called it a pony 💀
@@kcurran9913 Wait, I missed it! Unbelievable 🙄😂
My personal most intense reading of the story was confirmed when Colm says he's grateful to have lost all the fingers, his anxiety of dying as an artist that did not manage to leave anyting behind is the source of his suffering, by finding an external reason to get rid of his fingers he gets rid of a way to achieve that, giving himself just one chance with the piece he's writing. I know it's very individual and there's so many themes to read in this movie, but we all find what most touches us as struggles and similarities. The burden of unfulfilled art can be soul crushing where you rather mutilate yourself thatn fight the battle.
I enjoyed this so much more than I expected, the simple phrase “How’s the despair “ keeps etching itself into my mind , such a good portrayal of depression and relationships
@@thedeep436 Oh wow, the 34th reply from you and your alleged post. Looks like someone forgot to put the link for spam in the bot.
This story really messed me up, literally 4 days before seeing this in the cinema my best friend from childhood told me he didn't want to be my friend anymore. which made this film so hard to watch. I really enjoyed it, but i'm not sure i can see it for a while as it feels far too raw atm.
Sorry to hear that. Take time for yourself and try to be kind to yourself as you go through this, lean on your other friends for help. Best wishes to you.
I'm really sorry... I've lost my long time friend too and I don't actually have other friends at all, this was the last one I had and it was my own kind of dullness that drove him away. It's painful because I know I won't be able to make a friend like that again, it was an opportunity that I busted. I didn't have to mess it up, there's probably a reality where I made better choices and still have him to talk to but it's not now and I don't know what I'll do about it
@@GeorgeSukFuk Ah, you'll be better off. Guy sounds like he was a bastard anyway if somebody being a little unexciting made him walk away.
these shitheads are called NARCISSISTS and we were DISCARDED.....please research it
@@stevesteverson he sounds exciting to me. suck a lot of phallus is a very interesting s/n.
Listen dudes. I'm 30 and I've had 3 best friends, each lasting a decade or so. People change, move away, etc. I don't got one right now, nor a woman, but I do have a family like anybody currently living must have. (if not well damn).
Anyway it's okay to be alone. I play music, go to work, hobby on days off, and keep an eye out for the next one. If the next friend/relationship doesn't come I'm okay with that too because I'm okay with myself. Don't be bitter and don't feel despair. Hell you were born and that means someone out there loves you (*again* if your a test tube baby well damn).
My reading of why Colm stops talking to Pádraic is that because of the isolation and war, Colm is coming to grasp with his mortality and his legacy as an artist. He is looking for things he can blame for his lack of creation. If Pádraic wasn't there he would've been immortalised through his work, and when Pádraic doesn't go away he will chop off his fingers and they have another reason to not create. He is incable of taking on the responsibility for his lack of creation and 'immortality'. But what he fails to understand is that all he has is the island.
On the other hand, Siobhán, who is in someways like Colm, does take the responsibily to change and leave the island even when Pádraic tries to stop her. It's not easy for her but she does it. Colm is looking for things to blame and not have to deal with the responsibily.
Well said
I watched this movie with my mother recently, and she noted an interesting line that Colm has at one point. And it’s something that I think says a lot about his character and his actions in the film.
When he’s in the confessional with the priest, Colm says he has feelings of Pride, but that he doesn’t view Pride as a sin. For one, he’s saying that to a priest, a man who could probably tell him that Pride is actually one of the Seven Deadly Sins. But also, given that, consider the reasons he gives for why he wants to dump Padraic. Colm says he wants to leave his impression on the world, especially in his musical compositions (something also noted when he says everyone remembers the music of Mozart over anyone who was kind at the same time), and that his aimless conversations with Padraic prevent him from reaching his full artistic potential. You wouldn’t be thinking you have enough musical talent to create something and block longtime friends from your life without a considerable amount of Pride, in a sense. Also, the main reason he cuts the rest of his fingers off is because Padraic admits he sent one of Colm’s prized pupils back to the mainland. To Colm, this could be someone who could spread his music to the world, and his former friend just took THAT guy out of his life. So if someone who was already indoctrinated into his “musical genius” (something that requires pride to get in the mindset of) is no longer around, why should he keep his own musical talent?
At least that’s one way to look at it.
Well, there's Mozart, and there is also the real person, St. Nicholas.
I actually picked up on the same thing. To be at that age and just now start having an existential crisis about meaning in life is pretty egotistical in that if your 70+ years old, how have you been so consumed in your own thought that you just now are thinking about the thoughts of others about you. I'm not saying this is a good thing to be thinking, but it never crossed his mind? Most of us are janitors, a few of us are Tom Brady. Tom Brady wouldn't be Tom Brady if we were all Tom Brady lol. I don't know, I'm a bit "northern english" myself so I get the nuance of both characters. Nihilism and optimism run concurrently in my viens
Have kids. You'll find your purpose there if you aren't complete piece of shite! :)
The Seven Deadly Sins aren't referred to in church, they're a kind of side branch of scripture.
They're not even in the Bible.
To me it stood out much more how hypocritical and, as Siobahn correctly states, dull Colm is himself. He has nothing to show for himself apart from a musical dream which he seems to have picked up on a whim.
He doesn’t leave the island and instead has students come to him, because it’s more comfortable. He doesn’t even know about Mozart and willingly gives up his fingers because he is afraid of failure - or maybe deep down realizes he will not amount to much in the end with his past and current attitude. So it‘s easier to shift the blame onto someone else for a completely arbitrary reason.
To me, being passionate involves sacrifice, but obviously not in a way that would jeopardize your dreams. Maybe Colm has convinced himself the leaving student is the reason but the truth would be that he is just a coward.
@@Thefirstbrady do not have kids to try and 'fix yourself'. They will never forgive you
It’s not that the sister has not found anyone to love on the island - that is possibly part of it but not all of it - she wants something more than the island is able to offer…
Farrell described is a story about a good man, connected to the people around him and content with his lot, who discovers the cruelty and violence of the world leaving him isolated and depressed. I also thought that disconnect from the mainland where even the civil war barely registers means that trivialities take on the enormity of the war on the island instead, hence the excess of the responses to small slights. Also how we can drift along happily with a perception and image of ourselves, but when others reveal how they see us, that perception is shattered. Just as the rejection that Dominic receives finally shatters his optimism and destroys his hope that he could finally find a woman. I could go on - the more I think about it, the more I find. Superb multi-layered movie with outstanding performances.
W
Well Said Kerry
If you could take a look at The Frighteners, that would be amazing!
It’s a campy horror comedy about a guy who can talk with ghosts, and it’s one of Michael J Fox’s last film roles.
Completely underrated movie
Also it's directed by Peter Jackson!
That's a great suggestion!
Films that go over these mundane, but emotionally poignant experiences are a jewel.
Getting over a close relation that no longer want anything to do with you, for no discernible reason, is like mourning the dead. It's important to make up your mind to let go as soon as posible, and to understand that people are mostly powerless in these situations.
I really related to Padraic, because that would drive me insane. I would also not be rational. I would not believe that he'd cut one finger off, or go through with the others after. That's absolutely maddening! I'd have to know the reason. And if Colm gave me some half-baked "I want to make music to live on past me" oh... I'd be even more mad. You can't make music and have friends? it only took you a few days, man! Call me after, geeze.
I also need Mrs. McCormic's outfit for ren fest. Top tier silhouette. Screw being a fair maiden, I want to be the harbinger of death.
lmao😂😂😂😂😂
I was thinking the same thing while watching.
I came to the conclusion that Colm just needed a scapegoat to justify his failed ambitions without placing full responsibility where it belongs: on himself.
@@taps_lock this, simply this, said in fewer words and better than me, was just looking if I was the only one reading that, especially when he feels relief in cutting hsi fingers so he has a reason he cannot ocmpose anymore rather than fight art
To be fair to Colm I can kinda see where he’s coming from if Padraic and him hang out every single day. Me personally I have people I speak to every single day and after a while it feels like I’m obligated to do stuff with them, I enjoy it but sometimes I wonder if I could spend the time working on a project or doing something on my own, it kinda puts me into a morality loop of “what should I do, should I hang out with my friends and have fun or knuckle down and accomplish a dream?” It’s especially hard if you have a 9-5 job that leaves you with less time at the end of the day to focus on your dreams. Now I’m not denying what Colm did was wrong, it was he put Padraic through mental torture by not just giving him a straight answer but I can see where he’s coming from
Every character in the film has someone eager to talk to them but they just don't wan't to talk. Padraic for Colm, Dominic for Padraic, the old woman (banshee?) for Shioban.
After I finished it. I couldn’t help feel like I had just finished an old short story.
Love to see these two back together after In Bruges. Will absolutely be checking this out
They pair brilliantly!
It's definitely got it's dark humor. Just be forewarned, it's vastly different from In Bruges and quite sad.
@@joenobody5913 _In Bruges_ was also quite sad
One thing I noticed on second viewing is how the shot at the beginning, with Padraic coming from behind the Mother Mary statue (shown at 0:26 ) mirrors the final shot with him leaving from behind the silhouette of the old lady/banshee (shown at 11:49)
I hadn't noticed that! Perfect imagery to mirror Padraic's state of mind
Oh and the rainbow. I noticed that on my second viewing.
I just think it’s refreshing to see an allegory to the conflict in Ireland which doesn’t portray it as an idealised narrative of nationalist saviours trying to free people from colonial dominion or a tragic narrative of violent revolutionaries chasing the promise of manifest destiny.
It’s a bleak and incredibly human conflict born of two sides which could but for the problems on which they will never agree be friends. It’s just a really regrettable situation all-round but one which we can only hope will resolve amicably over time.
all thats fair, as wars go on they have a way of destroying their own justification and becoming more irrational and pointless as they go on
but i mean I also think fair to say this war was clearly caused in the first place by English Imperialism, they directly threatened war and another invasion if the treaty was not signed. which gave the free staters very little choice, and they chose to collaborate with unionist pograms in the north to try and ethnically cleanse it so they could hold on to part of ireland,
(only three counties had a clear unionist majority so they had to use alot of violence in the other two to drive people out manufacture a majority, where before they'd been fairly evenly split, as three counties wouldn't have been enough to really be a functioning long term polity and they needed more territory.)
Not to say there weren't very deep divisions among the revolutionaries conservative Catholics vs secular socialist nationalists, and what form the economy would take, but they conceivably could have been solved peacefully without English intervention and partition.
@@chriss780
Could be the case, but it could also be more complicated than that. It certainly has become so over time.
It’s all too attractive to assume there was ever going to be an easy or peaceful solution where a civil war is involved. In my experience the more you study the motives, justifications, incentives, biases, tragedies, etc that surround a civil war the less avoidable it seems to become and the less it fits comfortably into a narrative of which side is blameless in the conflict.
At the end of the day the scars of the conflict remain and actions as foolish and human as those which ignited the conflict still threaten to open those wounds all over again.
If there ever was an easy answer of who is to blame for the lack of a resolution the conflict has evolved past anything so convenient and all that’s left is to pray nobody needs to take up arms again.
Omg the Blood Brothers reference is so perfect
I've always seen the concept of purgatory as the process of going somewhere eternally. Being in transit without ever getting to your destination. It can be comfortable and you never notice the journey never ending, or it can he miserable immortal traffic.
It’s cool to see you branch out beyond covering horror
A small detail I like is how when the donkey is found dead we see the horse looming over the donkey as if the
Horse 🐎 is concerned 😟 😢
I think the real tragic character of this story was Dominic because, not even I took time time to feel bad for his death because I was so concerned about the other characters' fates. Dominic went through a lot.
This movie was haunting and sad. It really bothered me. Colm got what he wanted in the end but he completely broke his former friend to do it. He decided that Padraic wasn't what he wanted in life anymore and he couldn't just distance himself. He cut him off completely. Once he got what he wanted he realized that he broke Padraic to do it.
And still, he failed to do the one thing that would have REALLY given him the distance he claimed to want from Padraic: leave the damn island. It's damn near impossible to avoid a former friend in a town that small, even when the former friend is willing to let you go.
He could have composed his "masterpiece" ANYWHERE else. It almost feels like he wanted to provoke a reaction out of Padriac.
@@thedorkone1516 correct.
Well Said
Yes, the town was too small for anyone to change the routine they were used to.
6:50 Mrs. McCormick reminds me a lot visually and thematically of the Theodor Kittelsen drawing "She Covers the Whole Country - 1904" depicting The Black Death moving through the Norwegian mountainside as an unstoppable force of nature.
Now that I think of it, since Collum talks about getting old and wanting to be remembered. I think his anger at padaric for being “boring” is related to padaric having more time then he does since he’s younger. He thinks padaric is wasting time being nice and not pursuing leaving a legacy behind.
I keep having to explain this to people but I honestly believe it will help those who are unsure of what’s going on to actually understand what’s going on.
Nice = Dull
Those are the only two words used to describe our protagonist. And when does Colm say he actually likes his old friend again? After he is no longer nice, or dull. He wants excitement but in his mind that means anger or hate… because if
Nice = Dull then it stands to reason that
Mean = Excitement
Anyway that’s my cheat sheet for understanding the movie a little easier.
Happy new year!
As the great Ron Swanson once said “live your life how you want. But don’t confuse drama with happiness”
I don’t necessarily think it was stubbornness on Padraic’s part. Emotionally unprepared to deal with Colm’s brutal and petty dismissal, yes. It’s having been kind to someone he’s known for years and to outright be rejected for it, by the end Colm’s personal despair has created a bitter man in Pádraic.
I was in The Pillowman in college. Totally changed how I looked at art. Thank you for covering this movie and bringing to my attention that it exists!
Oh I'm so glad you covered this! McDonagh Brothers films are always an event in this house. Loved how simple and moody this one was, somewhere between Calvary and In Bruges. RIP little Jenny 💛🌙🌟✨
So sad about Jenny because so innocent
You have one of my favorite approaches to movie commentary and I hope you keep making great content like this.
I just want to say I always love your work. Also, you should do “Wake in Fright” sometime. Keep up the great content! Cheers!
Watched this movie because of you talking about it on twitter and I LOVED it. Such a beautiful movie and definitely one of my top ones in 2022.
I definitely related to Pádraic in this situation.
From my experience, it seems like the majority of people flock to toxic friends who always know how to give a good conversation, while giving the cold shoulder to genuine friends who can sometimes be awkward.
I love how every other comment in here is "I really related to Padraic".....of course nobody related to Colm. Who the fuck does something like that? And the nuts who do are far to self serving to see it in someone else and think "oh wow I really relate to that!"
Well said
Thank you for covering this film. I've seen it twice now, and I absolutely loved it.
In the post office scene with Padraic, Dominics dad the policeman mentions a 29 year old walked into a lake & k*lled himself, Barry Keoghan is 30 so surely there's a connection there, did anyone else notice that?
I literally watched this film this morning so perfect timing! Immediately shot into my top 5 of 2022.
The Banshee of Inisherin is one HOYEVER away from being a perfect Irish movie.
Different accent
Man, you really deserve more views and engagement for this quality of content
The way I see it, I think that Colm might be an extreme narcissist.
He wants to be remembered for his music and to leave a defining legacy left behind even if it means hurting those around him. He’s just so petty about his own passion for music that he’s willing to harm himself and others.
However, in the end, after his ‘masterwork’, he starts to reopen up to Padric with some small talk. Sure, they’re relationship is extremely strange but almost in a frenenemies type of way.
Feckin grate video, Ryan.
I just let out the most overcome sigh when the video ended. Thank you Ryan💚
A great way to start 2023 is a great Ryan Hollinger HOYEVER video on an Irish non-horror film starting the Penguin and Mad Eye Moody.
Saw this last night and loved it. I found it interesting that Colm and the Banshee are dressed very similarly. When they out of focus in the background they both look like this lurking black blog.
Thanks for the video Ryan.
I loved this film so much, I think about it often and try my best to get my friends to watch it.
Well said
Decided to finally watch it after your vid came up on my feed and now i'm here for your analysis. Your point about the ending was so right! Thanks for putting it into words.
To be honest, the second half of the film made me quite uncomfortable due to the self mutilation. I really don't get Colm other than he's probably depressed and for whatever reason he looks (by the beginning of the film) as unnecessarily mean to Padric who is overall a nice guy. But is he really? It's interesting how Padric becomes increasingly ''meaner'' as Colm becomes increasingly ''compassionate'' (taking as reference the beginning of the film), as shown by Padric's lies to the visiting musician, his words to Dominic, his demands to his sister and his final actions, and shown in Colm helping Padric after the police knocked him down, recognizing how interesting he can be after his drunken discourse at the pub, and feeling sorry for accidentally killing Jenny the donkey. Colm felt more of a catalyst than a fully fleshed character, which is very interesting because by the end of the film I ended up with a vague impression that there were two banshees: the first banshee (allegorical or real) is obviously the old lady. But Colm himself is a bringer of death in his own right (though also because of Padric's fault), a grim figure in his own right and most importantly, someone who seems to unknowingly announce calamities. The most prominent one would be the end of his relationship with Padric (a sort of death, arguably a killing on Colm's part at the start), though the most obvious would be the donkey's death. But there's also his own demise. Colm is a musician. Cutting off his own fingers not only shows his unwillingness to compromise and reflects what the priest refers to as ''despair''. It's beyond mutilation, he's quite literally seali g his fate and writing his own death: without livelihood, without his craft (and mind you, writing songs was at one point one of the arguments he had for cutting off ties with Padric), his very self identity. On a textual level, it's obvious that Colm needs help and though it's perfectly understandable people around him had no idea how to deal with that, it's frankly appalling that they just don't do anything at all (the scene of him bleeding all over the music sheets as the musicians play and he feasts in the pub being genuinely horrifying), no apparent attempt at talking, no doctor, nothing. It's just the very mild attempt of the priest during confession.... And Padric's ultimately misled but headstrong attempt to understand and just be by his hide. The thing is Padric wants his old friend (and perhaps most importantly, his routine) back, so to which point is he actually willing to accept an ill Colm? He does discuss it wit his sister, so I think he tried to help in his own way, but by the end we see a lot of it was based on selfishness and his fear of loneliness. A fear that came true. On a more subtextual level, Colm's mutilation is more of a metaphor and he is just someone who wants to let go. I have been in that situation too, having a friend go away and never return without any possible explanation. It just happens sometimes that people drift apart. And it hurts like hell, but we all do it. In this level of analysis Colm is not destructively self isolating but just genuinely wants to cut ties and be with other people and Padric -desperate, needy, lonely and simple Padric- won't let him. Colm hurts himself in an attempt to drive him away but maybe Padric doesn't care enough for his friend and i stead cares more about his own feelings. Both sin in their blindness and leave victims on the way (the victims being third parties, but also themselves).
While I tink the movie wasn't satisfying (not much happens and as you pointed out, nothing gets solved) it was definitely thought provoking, very well made and stunning to look at. Also to me it wasn't comedic almost at all but it certainly felt absurdist. My favorite scenes were the one in which drunken Padric confronts Colm and reflects on niceness and the scene when Padric finds the poor donkey. The last scene is superb too. Thank you for your video!
excellent points re: Colm as a catalyst /bringer of death. It is a bit surreal how he just prances around the island with blood gushing out and somehow fails to develop an infection (and also, apparently teleports out of a burning house).
...oh.
Yea, this took a turn I didn't expect. Honestly I can't make up my mind whether I liked it or not. Strange but strangely thought provoking.
Damn man, only 2 days into the new year and you have content already? 😂
Good stuff.
happy new year Ryan!! sending blessings your way, looking forward to another year of your work :D
"it takes two to tango"
"Ey, but I don't want to tango"
"Your dancin with the dog"
-ireland
8:20 I actually disagree with this. I think when McCormick warns Padraic not to kill the dog, she (inadvertently maybe) makes sure that he doesn’t forget the dog when he burns down the house, avoiding another accidental death like Jenny’s.
She may have been a good person.
The music at the end of this video is absolutely beautiful ❤️
I had a 10+ year friendship with a guy that gradually became a worse and worse person over the years - in the end, he never had a kind thing to say about anyone, he took what wasn't his from people who had less than him, he punched down at every opportunity he had and became bitterly vicious when things didn't go his way.
I held on so long because I kept thinking about the guy I'd met years prior, who was funny and maybe rough around the edges, but was well-meaning.
One day he came to visit and he casually said something so horrible about his roommate that, all at once, I just didn't like him anymore. It was just over in an instant for me, it was an almost eerie feeling, like he'd somehow just stomped on the smoldering remains of our friendship and it was just ash that was left.
I told him I needed space. It's been 3 years and I still need space. This movie may have scratched at something for me.
I had just moved out of state by myself and knew no one when I watched this. Over the process I lost many friends. I felt so lonely so I went to the movies knowing nothing about this movie except that Colin was in it… I was very happy that it was there for me but man it made me cry so much 😭. So beautiful though I loved it. But I’m definitely waiting until I’m in a better headspace to get the bluray
Getting off to a nice, gentle start to the year, I see!
One of cousins kept bringing up this movie & I thought nothing of it til I decided to randomly watch it one night & was immediately immersed in its story & characters. Great film
I watched this movie a little over a week ago. I love it. Farrell, Gleeson, Condon and Keoghan all give awesome, touching performances and the cinematography is gorgeous. I’ve been a fan of McDonagh since In Bruges and Banshees did not disappoint. Neither did this video. Big Ups Ryan! I’m actually surprised you chose this movie but I’m so glad you did.
Also, a lesson I’ve learned throughout my life, which this movie reinforced, is that I’ll never be able to pronounce Irish names correctly. It’s just a lost cause at this point.
This is my favorite film of the year. The writing is so powerful.
Because of "In Bruges" I visited Bruges some years ago. I wanted to visit Belgium anyway and so that was on my list of places.
Loved this film. Easily one of the best of the year. Been in love w/ McDonagh since I first discovered his work in theatre school.
COVER MORE DRAMAS!!! This was great!
Just want to say I love your vids. Big fan of horror but an even bigger fan of films in general so Im all in for more non horror reviews.
Colin Farrell's character didn't move on, Colm offered him truce, but Pádraic didn't shook his hand and told him, it would be over if he died, but he didn't so it won't be over until he dies. Pádraic said: "Some things there's no moving on from and I think that's a good thing." They are enemies now.
Some people have suggested that Colm died in the fire and Padraic is talking to a ghost.
It would make sense inasmuch as Padraic's hatred and rage is all he has left.
Was really hoping you would cover this, great job!
That goddamn donkey at the end broke my heart 😢
What great timing. I was literally finishing this movie as you published
This is a brilliant film. Very moody, beautifully shot, and top notch acting
martin mcdonagh is a cousin of mine cant say ive ever met him but strongly recommend visiting the aran islands in galway or anywhere in connemara if you like the scenery in this film,,,great video as always
My best friend stopped talking to me and started avoiding me literally days before i watched this movie. It was a very difficult watch 😅
That’s really sad.
@@lindawitt9063 yea, it did help tho, took the message to not act out of bitterness and remind myself to stay kind
The film brilliantly shows how everyone has experienced rejection in love friendships family job school etc
I love you so much for covering this film! If I see you've uploaded a movie I haven't seen, I'll go watch the movie then watch your video. I'm not great at analyzing movies, HOYEVER, I love hearing others' analyses. Your videos are my favorite! I love what you have to say, how you say it, and the types of movies you cover. I've seen so many new fantastic movies bc you've done a video on them (Dog Soldiers, The House That Jack Built, Triangle, & Saint Maud to name a few). In summation: you're amazing, and I loved the vid 😊
I liked how the intellectual aptitude of both Colm and Pádraic's pets reflected their owners percieved intelligence.
As soon as I saw you covered this movie I made sure to put aside some time to watch it and hear your perspective!
I saw a parallel in the relationship between Padriac/Colm and Dominic/Padriac
Padriac doesn’t like talking to Dominic but he always aproaches Padriac like they’re besties anyways.
It makes me think that Padriac did the same thing to Colm, just deciding they were best friends.
Colm was polite until he couldn’t tolerate it anymore and wanted to use his time more effectively.
The way he cut Padriac off was so cold though. I bet if Colm had told him before hand padriac would’ve understood
This movie changed my life. It will forever be in my heart and promoted by my lips... I felt like a kid watching "Into The West" again.
@@thedeep436 My thoughts: How far would you go to stop your best friend from wasting his life? Would you sacrifice your passion?
That was my thoughts on him cutting them off. I'll check out your comment right now
Well Julio, you might be interested in McDonagh's Oscar winning short from nearly twenty years ago, Six Shooter, has one of the kids from Into The West and the guy who plays the cop in this film also played a cop in Six Shooter, all those years ago (and the priest from this film played a guy who kills a cow). The is even a white rabbit link to Seven Psychopaths. Of course Brendan Gleeson played a cop in Into The West. Lots of links. ruclips.net/video/n_xMyx_SogA/видео.html
My brother and I argued thy couldn't just walk away because the Island was so small and everyone there is kinda isolated so it was kinda inevitable they were going to run into each other without knowing they were going the same way. It's kind of a theme in the film I think - the isolation brought on by the remote place which they live in.
Go
Good point
Wait, not ONE mention of that hilarious confessional scene?!?!?!
Thank you Ryan for posting this. I watched it before watching the film but I still want to see this one.
I had a falling out with one of my long time friends and we used to watch In Bruges together and thought it was hilarious. So when I saw this movie was coming out it brought up all these thoughts and feelings and a bittersweet smile knowing that Gleeson and Farrell were back together on film.
I don't mind spoilers and I'd have seen it when it came out except I'm not doing so well in the pocket right now so it was either groceries or streaming services so I cut all my services off.
Anyway, we all appreciate your work and for me especially this one.
Perfect timing, just watched it a few days ago and haven't stopped thinking about it since!
Amazing
Patrick does not choose to just walk away. He tells Colm that this will go on until one of them dies...
This movie hit me to my core and I won't stop thinking about it anytime soon.
This is one of my favorite movies, would’ve been the best of the year if it hadn’t come out the same year as Everything, Everywhere, All At Once.
It was funny and heartbreaking. I’ve always liked Gleeson but I absolutely fell in love with him here. And Farrell was absolutely phenomenal.
Existentialist drama at its best! Angst, life without defined meaning, despair and self responsibility....Wow! I was blown away. Never expected this. Reminded me of Kafka's absurd bug man when he cuts off his fingers. Energized me completely to when I was younger learning about these things. Ironic if the writers never considered the angle. But that would be in keeping with the movie!
I knew there was a deep meaning to this movie but for a non Irish person it was hard to interpret and found it boring. But watching this video has given me an insight to the hidden folklore. I’ll watch this again with a different perspective and not just someone trying to win his friend over .
I had just talked with a friend who's having a hard time accepting how he and a few others have grown apart. Told him how it's just a part of life that happens, yet he always blames himself. I'm almost tempted to have him watch this review (the movie might break him c.c)
When you described the basis for the story I'm regards to the falling out, I stopped your video and immediately watched the film. I had a similar situation that I never got closure from. Someone I used to think was my best friend one day suddenly ghosted me and I have never gotten closure. He was supposed to be my best man :(
After watching this movie, I don't think I will ever get that closure and at this point I'm not owed anything. I don't think we were rowling...
Thank you for this video and have a great year! I just saw this movie yesterday. I love it, but it's hard to understand. I do better now with your commentary.