In his confessionals with the town priest, it becomes clear that Colm has been in a sort of existential depression, feeling the creeping sense of his time running out.
Padraic then refuses to obey Colm's rejection, representing him taking a hard look at his friend's life for the first time to figure out what really happened. He eventually realizes Colm wasn't just a happy fiddle-playing drinking buddy but was seriously wounded by depression (the severed fingers).
Colm's official stance is that he doesn't like Pádraic anymore because he is a boring, trite person. That's a common enough reason to let a friendship die, but it's a flimsy excuse for throwing pieces of your own body on someone's doorstep.
What is the message behind The Banshees of Inisherin?
The message of the film is the downfall of culture and the way loss can destroy someone. With the two leads serving as metaphors for the Irish as a nation, the message of the film can be read as a cautionary tale.
Banshees of Inisherin - Meaning and Ending Explained
What is the metaphor in The Banshees of Inisherin?
The Banshees of Inisherin poignantly depicts a tale of despair and friendship in which despair overpowers friendship mostly throughout the film and this despair stands as a metaphor for the collective angst of Irish people during the Irish War of Independence.
It's a deeply cynical story with an achingly human message, a meditation on the way we define ourselves through others. One cannot pin their failures on a friend, nor can they use a peer as proof of virtue. We are our own individuals and must recognize ourselves as such.
What is the psychology of The Banshees of Inisherin?
Just so, The Banshees of Inisherin is a profoundly penetrating allegory about the psychology of human destruction, as well as a rousing existentialist call to embrace our potential and make something of the precious short time we have.
Depression amongst men is discussed, and the film has some dark, disturbing scenes. This includes a man cutting off his fingers. A corpse is seen being lifted out of some water, and a character commits arson in an attempted murder plot.
McCormick (again: definitely, definitely not the titular banshee) leads him to the lake, only to find Dominic's washed-up corpse, having apparently killed himself in the wake of Peadar's unrelenting violence.
Why does he cut his fingers off in Banshees of Inisherin?
He was willing to compromise himself - to cut off a part of himself, in rejection of what the other side stood for, which he saw as unsophisticated and inferior (although Siobhán is shown to be the most intelligent character in the story - perhaps she represents those who emigrated during the War of Independence).
The argument was made as part of a general critique of the film's hammed up Irishness: its seeming delivery of a barrage of stock tropes, stereotypes, and visual motifs that, from its opening scenes, screams: “Hold on to your flat caps… Here comes Ireland”.
In one way, the growing animosity between Colm and Pádraic directly mirrors the Irish Civil War, where it can be argued that Pádraic represents the Free State forces and the self-sabotaging Colm is akin to the IRA.
Colm and Pádraic were best friends who spent nearly all their time together. The film begins, however, with Colm refusing to speak to Pádraic. Eventually, Colm tells Pádraic that he simply doesn't like him anymore. The root of that dislike comes from their difference in intellect and interests.
THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN is as close as you can get to a contemporary Shakespeare tragedy short of reviving the bard himself and teaching him how to use screenwriting software.
Set against the backdrop of the Irish Civil War, The Banshees of Inisherin follows Colm (Brendan Gleeson) and Pádraic (Colin Farrell), best friends until April 1, 1923 when Colm decides he wants nothing to do with Pádraic anymore. And that's fecking final, according to Colm.
The film ruminates on the ways that humans are doomed to fight with one another and to take things too far, and questions whether some divisions will ever be healed. So yes, The Banshees of Inisherin is hilarious, but the comedy belies a fundamentally pessimistic film, full of dark observations on the human condition.
The Banshees of Inisherin despite looking cozy on the surface, is not. It deconstructs the impact of one man's mental health and looks at how his community responds.
It is intended as an allegory for the Irish Civil War ('Inisherin' translates to 'Island Ireland'), which was in full rage at that time. Colin Farrell plays Pádraic Súilleabháin, a small farmer, and Brendan Gleeson plays Colm Doherty, a fiddle player who scores traditional Irish music.
The Banshees of Inisherin is about 'hubris'. In making his Confession to the Priest Colm admits to 'a little bit of pride'; and, perhaps aware of his own limits, and to atone for the sin of his hubris, Oedipus-like, Colm mutilates himself and makes a bloody sacrifice of his musical fingers.
What is the metaphor of The Banshees of Inisherin?
Some theorized that Colm and Pádraic's conflict is a metaphor for the Irish civil war. This would make sense as neighbor turned on neighbor without warning during the war. There was some mention of a military conflict throughout the film, so McDonagh might've been leading the audience in that direction.
The wailing, animals and coast create a faraway and forgotten landscape for a man of the same qualities. “The Banshees of Inisherin” intertwines the life of a simple islander with the narrative that surrounds him, giving audiences a lesson in the sensitivity and principles of humanity and history alike.
What does the old lady symbolize in The Banshees of Inisherin?
Mrs. McCormack is depicted as a nosy old woman in The Banshees of Inisherin opening. However, her character becomes more sinister. She warns Pádraic that there will be a death or two on the island before the month is out, sadistically implying that Pádraic or Siobhán (or both) might die.
What does Dominic represent in Banshees of Inisherin?
In this scenario, the presence of Dominic represents, to Pádraic, both his greatest consolation and his biggest fear: While Pádraic can rest assured that Dominic will always be a bigger laughingstock than him, he also trembles at the thought that others might see him as he sees Dominic.
Is there a hidden meaning in The Banshees of Inisherin?
The Banshees of Inisherin can be perceived as a parallel to the Irish Civil war, which tore the land apart due to a conflict between once close civilians, fracturing friendships and destroying blood bonds.
