From ‘Banshees of Inisherin’ to ‘The Fabelmans,’ How Screenwriters Wrestled With Loss
variety.comMalina Saval Associate Editor, Features From the sharp sting of platonic rejection in “The Banshees of Inisherin,” to suicide and self-destruction in “Tár,” to death on a sinking cruise ship in “Triangle of Sadness,” grief and loss are a collective current running throughout this season’s Oscar contenders in the screenplay category.
Inconsolable loss plays out with disastrous, violent consequence in “Banshees,” Martin McDonagh’s crushing excavation of friendship torn asunder on a remote island off the coast of Ireland in the early 1920s.
As the Irish Civil War rages on the mainland, lead protagonist Pádraic, played to eloquent perfection by Oscar nominee Colin Farrell, is consumed with the heartbreak resulting from another catastrophic event: his comrade Colm (Brendan Gleeson, also an Oscar nominee) has suddenly, and without warning, broken off their friendship.
Pádraic is so distraught, he cannot concentrate on anything else. In one scene, he sulks in his rocking chair, his pet donkey Jenny curled on the floor underfoot.
Read more on variety.com
