Movie review

Irish misery makes for grand entertainment in The Banshees of Inisherin

The influence of Ireland on the modern movie landscape is undeniable, whether it’s actors like Colin Farrell, Liam Neeson, Saoirse Ronan, Brendan Gleeson, and Cillian Murphy, or directors like Jim Sheridan, Martin McDonagh, and Neil Jordan. But movies made about Ireland are in relatively short supply, and even when they do pop up, they tend to be heavy dramas.

McDonagh, who has hopped back and forth across the Atlantic in his career, returns to his ancestral home with The Banshees of Inisherin, which reunites McDonagh with his In Bruges stars. Pádraic (Farrell) and Colm (Gleeson) live on the fictional Irish island of Inisherin in 1923, with little to do except tend to the land and drink at the local pub. Pádraic and Colm are friends, until – for seemingly no reason whatsoever – Colm decides to end their friendship.

Pádraic is unable to accept this turn of events, especially as he sees Colm continue to enjoy himself with other people. And so he keeps on hounding Colm for the reason behind his out-of-nowhere decision, a pursuit that gains him few answers and only serves to escalate the feud in unexpected ways.

Written and directed by McDonagh, the film is at once one of the funniest movies of the year and one of the saddest. Colm rebuffing Pádraic’s repeated pleas for any kind of explanation is often played for laughs and never fails to entertain, often due to the reactions of those around them. In fact, the side characters – like Pádraic’s sister Siobhan (Kerry Condon), bartender Jonjo (Pat Shortt), and local idiot Dominic (Barry Keoghan) – are the secret sauce that keep the film as enjoyable as it is.

The premise is simple, but how McDonagh manages to mine that basic idea is something to behold. Little details, like the local busybody, Mrs. McCormick (Sheila Flitton), or the animals Pádraic and Colm own, add color to an already colorful film. And references to the ongoing Irish Civil War on the mainland underscores the pettiness of the beef between the two men without bogging the story down with unnecessary details.

For anyone who’s never been to Ireland, it can be difficult to explain the bleak beauty the country holds, but this film comes as close as anything to showing it. The rural area in which it takes place is filled with a seemingly endless array of black stone walls and the occasional building, a visual that serves to be pleasing to the eyes and important for character development.

McDonagh’s story succeeds even though – or, perhaps, because – the characters seem to have nothing else going on in their lives. Save for the bartender, the local priest, and a police officer, no one seems to be employed in any way in the town. That leaves everyone with plenty of time to gawk at Pádraic and Colm’s ongoing argument and other small matters.

Farrell and Gleeson have a chemistry together that makes each of their scenes together a supreme pleasure to watch. The way Farrell transforms himself into a needy sad-sack is fantastic, and Gleeson’s stone-faced reactions are the perfect complement. The supporting actors are just as good in smaller doses, especially Condon and Shortt.

The central disagreement in The Banshees of Inisherin may be inexplicable, but the film itself is fun to watch from beginning to end, even when it gets depressing. Ireland and the Irish film community have rarely been as well represented as they are here.

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The Banshees of Inisherin opens in theaters on November 4.

Colin Farrell in The Banshees of Inisherin

Photo by Jonathan Hession / courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

Colin Farrell (and his pet donkey) in The Banshees of Inisherin

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Movie Review

Spanish film La Bola Negra showcases unique slice of gay history

Photo by Carla Oset/Netflix

Miguel Bernardeau and Guitarricadelafuente in La Bola Negra.

For a long time — too long — gay characters in movies tended to appear as either side characters with no real stories or as tragic figures who were usually unable to express their true selves for fear of what the world at large would think. That has changed in recent years, but the remnants of the past can still haunt, as the new film La Bola Negra demonstrates.

The film takes shape in storylines involving three different men: Carlos (Milo Quifes), a young man in Granada, Spain in 1932 who wants to join an exclusive casino (aka social club); Sebastián (Guitarricadelafuente), who unwillingly joins the military during the Spanish Civil War in 1937, only to have desires aroused in him when he’s asked to guard an enemy detainee; and Alberto (Carlos González), an out gay man in 2017 whose inheritance from his recently-deceased grandfather opens up a world he knew nothing about.

The film goes back and forth between each man, detailing how they handle their individual situations and the complications that arise in their individual lives. Along the way their stories are deepened through people they meet who either welcome them with open arms or shun them for various reasons. While tragedy bonds their stories, so too does hope, resistance, and love.

Co-director/co-writers Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, along with co-writer Alberto Conejero, have expanded Conejero’s play, La Piedra Oscura, which was inspired by Federico Garcia Lorca’s unfinished play, La Bola Negra. Lorca, who was killed during the Spanish Civil War, had only finished four pages of the work, his first to feature an openly gay protagonist. It’s clear there’s a desire by the filmmakers to honor the legacy of Lorca as both a playwright and a gay man, and the seriousness of their pursuit is evident throughout the film’s 160 minutes.

Calvo and Ambrossi do little handholding to guide viewers through the three distinct stories, an approach that mostly works but occasionally leads to confusion, especially as more characters are added to the equation. None of the stories are overly complicated, but they take their time with each, making the long film feel even longer. Only Alberto’s story contains any kind of development that might be considered surprising, making it tough to fully engage with the other two.

Where the film does come alive is when it brings in two well-known actors for brief-but-fascinating stints. Penélope Cruz plays Nené Romero, a singer who entertains the troops and further expands Sebastián’s mind. Glenn Close pops up as Isabelle Durand, a scholar of Lorca who helps Alberto with a unique discovery he makes in his inheritance. Both actors bring up the level of the film significantly through their performances.

Quifes, Guitarricadelafuente (the stage name of Spanish singer Álvaro Lafuente Calvo, no relation to Javier), and González all put in good work in their roles, even if none are overly engaging. They are often overshadowed by supporting actors like Cruz and Close, as well as Miguel Bernardeau as Rafael Rodríguez Rapún, the captured soldier; Julio Torres as Alberto’s partner, and Alberto Cortés as Lorca, who brings a symmetry to the film as a whole.

La Bola Negra — which means “the black ball,” represented both literally and figuratively in the film — is an ambitious film that becomes a slight victim of its filmmakers’ aspirations. Although each of the three stories contain interesting elements, a strong emotional connection is lacking overall despite good-to-great performances.

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La Bola Negra is now playing in select theaters; it debuts on Netflix on December 2.

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