McDonaugh Leans on Humor and A Friendship Breakup to Explore Life’s Purpose in “The Banshees of Inisherin”

I feel as though McDonagh underwent a deep undertaking of introspection during the lockdown, using an internal debate and channeling it into two characters. 

Colm sees value in a person based on what they provide to HIM. Mozart provides him with inspiration, and with his music centuries old and thousands of kms away from the west of Ireland, Colm’s value of him is high. Padraig no longer offers any value to his life. 

If a life is to be judged by its value, what are the criteria in which it is to be judged? How do I know if I have lived a good life? In terms of this film, as @theriverjordan best put it into words, “Is it better to be remembered or to be liked?” 

McDonagh lets his internal debate play out on the screen, refusing to give us a clear answer to the question. For an accomplished writer who has already done so much, it would be easy to drink beers every day at 2 at the pub. Embracement of the simple life where the only concern is to keep a community of people around you to share the time with. 

However, old age brings with it the recognition that time is a deplenishing resource. Time requires a duty of seriousness to allot into meaningful avenues of one’s interests and morals. Balking at the duty brings the consequence of the risk of profound regrets at death. There is no better time than now to decide how one must shape the rest of their life. 

With McDonagh being a creator himself, there must be a desire in him to follow the path of being remembered. Any creator is (in some capacity) dependent on validation as a form of currency. The value is from others’ appreciation of what you make. What leaves me still thinking about this film is trying to get at what McDonagh is trying to say about Colm chopping off the rest of his fingers, thus preventing him from playing the fiddle and composing a piece that is timeless. The mutilation is self-defeating of the rationale he uses to end the friendship in the first place. Perhaps a further exemplification of the Irish Civil War, the backdrop conflict that continues to rear its head amongst the conflict between the two characters.

Further commentary exists in the temptation of slipping to a life of utter instability when faced with loneliness. Whether it be isolation brought from a global pandemic or literally living on an island, this film reminds me of the need to maintain comfort with myself when I feel like I am all alone. The beauty in McDonagh’s work is his ability to bake each of these rich, existential themes into a twisted and hilarious work. Each character (except for Sibohan) ends up in a worse place than when they started, yet the film is not hollow due to its sorrow. *chefs kiss I cannot wait to return to this movie.

PS. The performances here are marvelous! I didn’t think it was possible for a human being to simply move their body and speak in the way Barry Keoghan does in this film.