Blogging By Cinema-light: Don't Make a Scene: The Banshees of Inisherin

The Story: The Academy Awards weren't full of a lot of surprises. Most of the awards went to Everything, Everywhere All At Once and its cast and crew, with a lot of technical awards going to All Quiet on the Western Front.

I try never to have a dog in the fight, to keep me unprejudiced. I'd've been happy if any of the nominees won. Even Top Gun: Maverick—give it to 'em, it was an impressive ride (dumb, but impressive).

But, I kind of wish they gave something to The Fabelmans. And this film, The Banshees of Inisherin, which stayed with me for days after seeing it...like a grudge.

I don't know if Martin McDonagh is the Academy's cup of lemoned Evian water. he's quirky, and Irish, and dark, and too-blasted-smart for his own good. But, he keeps making great movies, that have nary a crashed-into fruit-cart or exploding helicopter between them (not to say there isn't some violence to them, but one would hardly call it "action")

Banshees (which I re-watched recently, where I was cackling...like a banshee...at the writing) is a comedy of a tragedy over next to nothing between friendly neighbors—but maybe not neighborly friends—who have that obstinate quality of doing themselves more harm than good for "the principle of the thing." And because a conflict between two Irish people cannot happen in a vacuum when there's an Irish village involved, there are the ancillary characters, like the sister of one of the protagonists, Siobhán Súilleabháin and Dominic, the dim son of the town's thick-headed, sadistic copper.

So, this scene. I know it affected people because it's been showing up in feeds not long after the movie premiered in theaters. And it's memorable because it's heart-breaking and because Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon are so "feckin'" good.

The words are from McDonagh's script dated June 29th, 2021

The Set-Up: There's a war going on in Ireland. But across the water in Inisherin, not so much. Oh, there's the day-to-day, don't ya know. But, nothing unusual. Except the town's fiddler Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson) and milkman Pádraic Súilleabháin (Colin Farrell) seem to be "rowin'" And then, Pádraic's sister(Kerry Condon) seems to be a little moody, which may have to do with Pádraic's constantly bringing home strays, like Dominic (Barry Keoghan), who has stayed a couple times for safe refuge.

Action.

106

SIOBHAN stands at the foggy banks of the lonely lake,

looking across at its bleak grey water, then looks down at her feet
that are being lapped by the water, her shoes in her hand.

Across the water she now notices MRS MCCORMICK, outside her

desolate shack on the distant opposite bank, staring back at
us, sitting on, or standing on, a red chair.

The old woman slowly and strangely waves,

and just as SIOBHAN is about to wave back,

MCCORMICK’s wave turns into something more of a beckoning...

striking SIOBHAN as creepy,

just as DOMINIC suddenly appears beside SIOBHAN, startling her.

(MELANCHOLY MUSIC PLAYING)

DOMINIC: Howdo!

SIOBHAN (GASPS) Jesus Christ, Dominic!

SIOBHAN Would you ever stop creeping...

SIOBHAN ...up on people? You almost gave me a fecking heart attack!

DOMINIC I wasn’t creeping up on ya. I was...

DOMINIC ...sidling up on ya.

SIOBHAN Between you and that ghoul! Jesus!

DOMINIC I always call her a ghoul, too, because she is a ghoul.

DOMINIC Jeez, we have a lot in common, don’t we? Me and you. Calling old people ghouls and that.

SIOBHAN gives him a look as she dries her feet, puts her shoes back on.

DOMINIC (CONT'D) Were you having a little paddle for yourself? Or were you just cleaning off the muck from them?
Another look as she gets to her feet.

DOMINIC (SIGHS) It’s a great old lake, isn’t it?

DOMINIC ~~All~~ ~~the... water in it, and that. Em...~~

DOMINIC I’m glad I caught you, actually.

DOMINIC Because there was somethin’ I was wantin’ to ask ya, actually.

DOMINIC And discovering how much we have in common,

DOMINIC ...well, it just makes me want to ask you even more.

SIOBHAN We don’t have anything in common.

DOMINIC Uh, don’t skip ahead.

DOMINIC But yeah, what I was wantin’ to ask you was…

DOMINIC ~~Jeez it’s cold, isn’t it! Your bony little feet must’ve been freezing!~~

DOMINIC Somethin’ along the lines of…

DOMINIC Should’ve planned this, really.

DOMINIC Well, yeah, what I was wantin’ to ask you was…

DOMINIC You probably wouldn’t ever want to,

DOMINIC I don’t know,

DOMINIC ...to fall in love with a boy like me, would ya?

SIOBHAN looks at him, and there’s such an earnestness, a sadness, yet a desperate hope in his eyes,

that it doesn’t warrant any kind of harshness.

SIOBHAN Oh, Dominic, I don’t think so, love.

DOMINIC No, yeah, no. Uh, I was thinking no.

DOMINIC Not even in the future, like? Like when I’m your age?

She shakes her head as kindly as she can.

DOMINIC Yeah, no, I didn’t think so.

DOMINIC Just thought I’d ask on the off chance, you know,

DOMINIC ...like, “faint heart” and that.

(BOTH CHUCKLE)

DOMINIC Well, there goes that dream.

DOMINIC Well,

DOMINIC I best go over there and do whatever that thing over there I was gonna do was.

SIOBHAN Mm-hmm.

DOMINIC heads off around the lake, then calls out...
~~DOMINIC (CONT'D) Oh, Siobhan? I think you’d best go find Padraic. Before he does anything stupid.~~

He waves, then carries on around the lake.