The Banshees of Inisherin. Where's that? In Bruges. Where's that? In Belgium.

[AustinArlitt]

Redirecting from the Oscars 2023 thread…

@MelesMeles

@AustinArlitt

I’m not sure you can properly explain the ending without addressing the subtext of the civil war. Or the fingers.

I don’t see any references to the civil war, beyond the fact that it’s happening in the background. Much like the banshees, I think it’s a macguffin?

Maybe we should move that to the thread itself, just to avoid putting too many spoilers in here.

Spoilers

The fingers is one of the criticisms I have of the movie, because it’s such an extreme reaction that it drowns out the point. The point is that Colm is in so much pain that he will do literally anything to keep Padraic away from him, but once he takes his fingers off, I think you start thinking about whether he might have a far more serious illness.

I think that’s the playwrite in Martin McDonagh going ham. It would probably play better on a stage than it does in the movie.

I have the same problem with friendship when it comes to the ending. If it’s a movie about friendship, then at that point nothing is resolved. We have no idea where their relationship is going.

It’s deliberately vague, but I think we’re just seeing where the characters are at that point in the story. Colm is smiling at the sun, which is an indication that he’s finally coming out of his depression. The demons have raged, and now they’re fading. He’s lost a few fingers, but he survived.

It’s a lot worse for Padraic, who has been far more seriously wounded by his own madness.

If he had just listened to wise young Dominic, none of it would’ve happened. “What’s this mope so mopey for? He’s just a fecking man, lads! A fat, ginger man!”.

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The fingers, like the duality of the ending, make a lot more sense—indeed, probably only make sense—if you view them through the lens of the subtext of the civil war. It’s in there for a reason.

I have the same problem with friendship when it comes to the ending. If it’s a movie about friendship, then at that point nothing is resolved. We have no idea where their relationship is going.

Like Blue Valentine, this movie is not about their relationship but about its dissolution. The ending provides an answer to where they’re headed. They can’t break their bond (“There’s no ending some things, and I think that’s a good thing.” Or something like that.) but neither can they forget the damage that’s been done. The fact that much of the violence in the story seems extreme and senseless is a feature, not a bug, even if there were understandable (if unjustified) motives when it started.

Your reading doesn’t really contradict the predominant one here on QT3 so much as enhance it. The only thing you haven’t accounted for is the subtext, which is foundational here, not merely for texture.