Our next (next) episode is on The Banshees of Inisherin — what should we talk about?

Framing seems to be an especially important dramatic device in ‘Banshees’. The movie demonstrates how the more subtextual themes from a screenplay can be brought into high relief through strong, symbolic shot composition. Perhaps the most notable example is the final shot on the beach after Colm & Pádraic part, with the portentous Mrs. McCormick framed dramatically between them. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the relationship between page and screen, particularly in a film which deals in the aforementioned technique for some of its heaviest swings. Is this a particular advantage of the writer/director?

Jack Payne

Hey Bts team, I felt the movie struggled to balance humor and seriousness, off course every movie balances different tones and are trying to evoke a array of feelings and tones, but i felt the movie wanted to be as much as a bizarre comedy and a dramatic story at the same time is it asking to much if a simple story? It also really struggled in how it should end in my opinion but hey what are your thoughts?

So many good ideas above already. What I want to add: - How do you build dimensions and complexity in your supporting characters, that enable them to have their own story and meaningful arcs, and even deliver such a powerful and memorable line as "Well, there goes that dream". Almost like a movie inside the movie, that makes you wish there is a spin-off where they are the main characters :-) - The way that Kerry Condon's dilemma was complemented by the way she was portrayed. She looked so young and energetic in some scenes, while much older in others. To me, it was almost like 2 different actresses with 10-15 years age gap are playing the same character.

RetroMinimalist

I’d like to hear you guys talk about Siobhan and Dominic and their roles in the story. Siobhan in particular was a really interesting character to me, in one sense because I feel like we rarely get good brother/sister relationships on screen, but also she struck me as the one character who kind of understood what Colm was going through and maybe that played a big part in her reason to leave Inisherin.

Sheela

Would each of you bring a donkey into your house when you're sad?

Josh

How a script that batshit can be made so beautifully lmao

Julie Merson

I was obsessed with Barry Keoghan’s performance as Dominic, the kid at the very bottom of the totem pole. Talk about him!

Rocky

Hey guys! I'm curious if you picked up on the parallels between the Civil War happening across the sea, and Colm and Pádraic's fued. I noticed a few times where what was happening over there mirrored what was happening between them. Maybe it's obvious, or maybe I'm reading too much into it. Either way, would love to hear your thoughts, and I can't wait to see this episode!

David

Hi BtS team, I’d love to hear you talk about the interesting balances of tone in McDonagh’s films, and how he manages to write scenes that are simultaneously funny and tragic

Hey BtS Team, I find that Colm’s actions, and how he escalates the situation, are great examples of act structure; notably, at the end of act one and at the midpoint. He’s the type of antagonist where he’s not out to get Pádraic, but simply has the opposite goal. First, he threatens to cut off his fingers (end of act one), then he actually does it (midpoint). And this goal - wanting Pádraic to leave him alone - really tests Pádraic until the crisis. I’d love to know your thoughts on this very clear cut structure. Thanks!

And as always thank you BtS team for everything!

Hello BtS team! I'd love to know what you've heard/think about McDonagh's writing process! In this moment in this year's Hollywood Reporter roundtable (timestamp -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs0d7yl2ANc&t=2787s), for instance, it's funny to see how other great writers, likes of Rian Johnson & Tony Kushner, are surprised to find McDonagh does not outline and "just goes" with the central conflict/idea and sees where it takes him. Elsewhere I've also heard McDonagh use phrases like "it almost writes itself" in describing some of his premise-driven works. I would love for a short craft-y reflection on this notion of architects and gardeners being two types of writers, or two modes of thinking in a writer. And what each of the BtS team members believes on the topic and subscribes to for their own work. LFTS and BtS discussions illuminatingly focus on structure, which is so important because, I think, implicit in the above topic is the idea that good writing is what becomes - not what comes from - good structure. And I think we must internalize and learn to intuit what we can about structure to make that possible. But while structure is golden(!), I sometimes find it hard to reconcile the two kinds of writers we have in us all. "I need to have seen the movie before I write it", vs. "I want to write this movie as I see it" is a battle I think we fight at the molecular level of every project (at least we beginner writers). I think the premise, themes, setting and characters of The Banshees of Inisherin make it such a uniquely positioned script in the context of which to talk about these ideas!

(See also: Casablanca)

Reed

Good film, like. I quite liked the character of Siobhán, very well played by Kerry Condon. Can you consider her role in explaining the broken relationship between Pádraic and Colm? And also her “escape” from the island, both from Pádraic and the other characters, and the banshee lore that looms in the background.

As the Irish Civil War is both the setting and the subject of the film, with the impact on culture at the forefront rather than the fighting, I'd love to hear your reflections on how a 'war film' can be so much more than battlefields and explosions, and other examples of this being done well in other films

Chloe Minish

Please talk about the openings in McDonagh's movies, how he intermediately establishes the main conflict of the story right in the first scene, how he starts immediately with the inciting incident, without any exposition first. (Like in Three Billboards and In the Banshees...)