Personal Histories

Well, I hope all had a good holiday and a happy new year. As we careen head-first into our resolutions maybe we should take this time for some reflection. What do you want out of our time here? To be perfectly honest, 2022 was a lot for me. Some films currently in theaters I have avoided due to personal reasons. Amazing as I have heard Brendan Fraser’s performance is in The Whale, the idea of it is still too raw for me. Same goes for Spoiler Alert. A great many filmmakers mine their own lives and history for their art. Here are a few that affected me during the break.

The Banshees of Inisherin is the fourth feature from director Martin McDonagh, his first since Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. He teams up again with frequent collaborators Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell from In Bruges. On the idyllic title island in Ireland, two friends have a falling out. Farrell’s Pádraic is first seen walking through town with a smile on his face, rainbow clear in the sky over his shoulder. However, The Quiet Man or Brigadoon can’t be counted as McDonagh’s influences. Or it may be a subversion.

Upon encountering his friend, Gleeson’s Colm, he finds that Colm wants nothing to do with him anymore. No explanation or reason at first, Colm just wants to be left alone. And it is this simple act that tears through the town and its people. Such an insignificant rift starts a small war between the men. All the while, the Irish Civil War looms large over on the mainland.

Pádraic’s sister Siobhan, played excellently by Kerry Condon, tries her best to console him and keep life going as it was. Tension escalates, until each man turns to drastic measures. However, this film is not completely bleak. McDonagh’s brand of twisted yet wry humor breathes forth in many scenes. Barry Keoghan, who is only getting better each film I see him, plays a squirrelly local kid who is mistreated by most in town but Pádraic. He is the clear example of both the comedy and the tragedy in this story. Check it out over on HBO Max, highly recommended.

On Netflix, two-time Oscar-winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu brings his magnum opus Bardo. I will refrain from adding the subtitle to this; it is there for you all to see. Pretentious as this sounds, the film enraptured me just the same. In many ways this is a phantasmagoric experience. Surreal to say the least, Iñárritu draws from his own life to create a roman a clef without a key. A story about a journalist/documentarian; is it the director or not? One thing that is clear is he is speaking about the experience of being of two worlds.

Daniel Giménez Cacho plays our main focal point Silverio. He is definitely a stand-in, but to what degree? As the subtitle states, this is a handful of truths. Silverio is grappling with whether he is a good or bad artist; if he doesn’t matter anymore. Through increasingly opaque dream sequences, he struggles with identity as a Mexican and an American. Historical moments are enacted like stage plays, reminiscent of Fellini’s 8 1/2.

As this film opens, Silverio’s wife is giving birth to their third child who doesn’t want to come out. This plays out through the film as part metaphor, but also maybe part truth. Stillborn or poetic symbolism, what is up with your directors and their use of the human womb as plot elements Netflix? Blonde first, now this. All questions aside, the use of wide-angle lens and gorgeously lit cinematography kept me glued to the screen. At about two hours and thirty-eight minutes, it is a dense visual tome to traverse through. I don’t feel my time was wasted myself, but some might want to sit this one out. All and all, it was all very compelling viewing.

---

---