I might as well tell you up front how to pronounce the last word of the title: "in-uh-SHARE-in." I won't provide similar guidance for the character names, because you're not likely to say them until after you've watched.
On a tiny ficitious isle in 1923, Pádraic (Colin Farrell) suddenly finds that his drinking buddy Colm (Brendan Gleeson) wants nothing more to do with him. Colm eventually explains that he'd rather pursue a legacy as a composer for the fiddle than listen to Pádraic's unenriching blabber. Pádraic won't give up on him that easily, thinking he's just going through a depressive phase. Colm threatens self-mutilation if Pádraic won't stop talking to him. Things get uglier from there.
This occurs during the Irish Civil War, but the residents of Inisherin are rather aloof from it. They just hear occasional cannonfire from the mainland shore, plus bits of news. None of them seem to care who will win. For this story, it adds only a slight ominous backdrop, perhaps hinting at a smaller-scale civil war brewing.
Colm is certainly a jerk to Pádraic, especially at first, and every third party on that gossipy isle disapproves. Wanting to be the next Mozart is no excuse, as Mozart had a social life that included non-musicians. Nevertheless, we can kinda see where he's coming from: Pádraic is one unimaginative guy, and his conversation leaves something to be desired. Other acquaintances try to assure Pádraic that he's not boring or stupid, but they don't do a convincing job of it. Mainly, they see him as "nice." And like many people today, Colm assigns little value to niceness, which doesn't achieve cultural immortality. Yeah, he's pretty egotistical, and while he says as much in confession, he doesn't see it as a sin.
Pádraic really hasn't figured out much of anything else to do with his life. He's not looking for love. He has no hobbies outside the pub. He has difficulty taking care of himself without help from his sister, Siobhán (Kerry Condon). His only other arguable friend, not counting the bartender, is his donkey, whom Siobhán doesn't want in the house like he does. Younger man Dominic (Barry Keoghan) tries to be a friend, but Pádraic finds him understandably obnoxious, partly for being even dumber.
By the time Pádraic gets tired of playing nice, it's fully clear that he doesn't have much else going for him. He's ruining what few ties he has left. You might say he's just as warped and self-destructive as Colm and ultimately the bigger jerk. At least Colm still does him a few good deeds, like defense against the bullying cop (Gary Lydon).
If you really want to know about that threat I mentioned, it's for Colm to cut the digits off his left hand and throw them at Pádraic's door. And this wouldn't be much of a movie if he bluffed. Doesn't even bother with bandages or washing. The other reason for an R rating is foul language, tho you might have a little difficulty recognizing it through the sometimes thick brogue.
You might assume that the title alludes to the feuding former friends. Well, it's also what Colm names his first composition, ostensibly because he just likes the sound of it. But then there's a creepy old woman in black (Sheila Flitton) who predicts death; she might serve the herald function of a banshee. It was she who finally got me to recall the Irish drama course I took in college, putting the interpersonal conflict into a sort of traditional perspective.
But unlike those dour plays or the vaguely similar Calvary, TBoI is partly comedic, and not in a way that leaves me unsure whether to tag it as such. There are quite a few tickling lines, sometimes from stating the obvious with overly long phrasing. The priest (David Pearse), while judgmental, is no angel either.
I'm not too surprised to learn that writer-director Martin McDonagh also did In Bruges, with the same two stars. I would not have guessed his hand in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. I find this midway in between those movies, with the jerks in conflict difficult to relate to but still able to arouse my sympathy. And of course, the humor is more in line with IB.
TBoI probably shouldn't win Best Picture, but it might earn an acting award or two. It is one of the more moving nominees I've seen so far.
No comments:
Post a Comment