The Oscar Awards 2023 are about to arrive, and they do so in an impressive edition. This year there are several films of great level that can win the statuette as best film; among them The Fabelman, Top Gun: Maverick, Avatar: The Way of Water or The Triangle of Sadness. But there is one that has gone unnoticed and yet has many chances to win the award: The Banshees of Inisherin.
Starring Collin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, this feature film is one of the most surprising of the year. And it is not only because of its production -it is a classic independent film- or because of its performances -which are spectacular-, but also because its plot is one of the most daring, curious and truly original that we have come across in the film industry in recent years.
Far from the spectacularity of Everything Everywhere All at Once, which is equally original but from the maximum madness and the breaking of boundaries, The Banshees of Inisherin tells a very, very simple story. However, it needs no more to delight the audience with a film that is as funny as it is sad and leaves no one with a single head.
Its subtext is so good that the screenplay won an award at the Venice Film Festival and, along with Everything Everywhere All at Once, is one of the favorites in this category. But what is The Banshees of Inisherin and why does it deserve the Oscar for Best Picture?
A Story From Containment
The Banshees of Inisherin is set on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland. Here live two lifelong friends: Pádraic (Colin Farrell) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson), who spend the day in the pub drinking and enjoying the day to day. However, one day Colm decides to end their friendship abruptly. He gives no excuse for it; he has simply grown tired of being their friend.
Stunned, Pádraic allows himself to be helped by his sister Siobhán (Kerry Condon) and the village “fool” Dominic (Barry Keoghan), but no matter how hard he tries, he cannot recover the friendship he has lost with Colm. Desperate, he will resort to anything in his power to get them back to what they were.
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The film has, as I said, a very unique story that we have rarely seen reflected in a similar footage. While we are used to stories of heartbreak, of “unfriendliness” there is not so much, and this is undoubtedly the best example we can find of it.
The film is very, very intelligent, and takes advantage of this simple premise to talk about such intricate issues in society as pride, the fact of leaving a mark on the world, kindness, innocence and mischief. It is one of those films in which the characters will never say “I’m sad”, but leave you thinking for hours in each and every one of the dialogues that arise between the protagonists.
Why should it win the Oscar for Best Picture?
The strongest point of the film, along with the script, are the performances. Not for nothing is its entire main cast nominated in their respective categories: Colin Farrell for Best Lead Actor, Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan for Best Supporting Actor and Kerry Condon for Best Supporting Actress. It matches Everything Everywhere with 4 nominations, and while it seems that none are favorites to win, they are certainly all deserving.
Far from the more outlandish performances of the other nominees, the actors in The Banshees of Inisherin show impressive gifts of restraint and low profile. All of the performances are worthy of study, and even when the film gets more over-the-top, the tone doesn’t get out of control.
Martin McDonagh, the film’s director, is to blame for everything. The London-based filmmaker has been triumphing in Britain for years with his work as a playwright, and although he already has five films to his credit, it was with Three Ads on the Outskirts (2017) that he won the Academy’s favor.
Partner of the very talented Phoebe Mary Waller-Bridge (Fleabag), Martin McDonagh has a spectacular future in the industry. It is not clear if this will be the film with which he will win the statuette for Best Director (the Daniels and Spielbergs are the favorites) or Best Picture. But, undoubtedly, it is a name to keep in mind.
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