Have you ever fancied severing ties with your closest friend – that friend with whom you used to drink, dance, made all sorts of shenanigans – that kind? And with practically no reason at all. Just like that, like a puff in the air. Well…felt like asking, isol. No harm in asking ye, yea?
Coming to this film, TBoI, is about two men and their conflict about not wanting to be the best of friends anymore. And that’s that! Nothing more, nothing less. Yet the way the film progresses is something more captivating than the landscape of the prairies. It deals with loneliness, despair, depression, and above all, friendship but it doesn’t exactly shove it on our faces. It’s all subtle and that is the beauty of this film.
For every person, I’m sure there comes a point where we just want to end all relations, stay mute to our close ones, and simply mind our own business. But it is not as easy as it sounds, especially when people around you start questioning you for “being yourself”. And precisely that is what has been discussed in the movie. It is a tale of two conflicting friends, a tale of fingers and fiddle, a tale of silence and violence, and a tale of shearing friendship. And what better can it be than to make us feel empathetic for either end of the spectrum?
This film strongly reminds us of Ingmar Bergman’s Det Sjunde Inseglet, popularly known as The Seventh Seal. It had a similar cliff, similar conflict, similar gloom in the atmosphere, and even a similar ghoul/death staring right in the eyes. It seemed as if the Death himself dawned in the village of Insherin and wouldn’t leave until there is a death or two. This film, TBoI has a huge chance of having a long-lasting impact as that of The Seventh Seal for the times to come because we all are dooming ourselves in the mask of happiness, elation, joy, and feast. Maybe those masks that were inside ColmSonnyLarry’s home resemble these facades. Or maybe not. Ah, feckin hell, so!
The pace was slow because there was a dullness in Insherin.
The air in it was chilling because bad news was coming.
The colours were earthen because the mood was shearing.
The language was rusty because people were lazy.
The friendship was hazy because life innit was less daisy.
The director, Martin McDonagh, who previously directed “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”, “In Bruges”, and “Seven Psychopaths”, had done a great job in not only visualizing this idea but bringing it to life. Watching his previous films, I had full confidence that this film will also move me, make me sit down, and write a piece about it. And oh boy! It surely did move me to the core.
If we are talking about the visuals, we should definitely speak about Ben Davis, the cinematographer, who frequently collaborated with McDonagh. Every frame, every visual, and every sequence was wallpaper-worthy which makes you pause and admire its picturisation. And Carter Burwell, the composer, had made some gloomy yet child-like music in the film which was nothing to do with Irish folk music because the latter has a unique salty oak feel to it and this had metallic fairy tale music. The initial tune might have a small reminiscence of “The Rocky Road to Dublin” by The High Kings but it was anything but that. And that made the film more standout and unique – having complete non-Irish music in an Irish film, except for the part where Colm plays his fiddle, where Brendan Gleeson himself wrote the tune for it as he was also a real-life fiddle player.
Colin Farrell as Pádraic Súilleabháin, Brendan Gleeson as Colm Doherty, Kerry Condon as Siobhán Súilleabháin, and Barry Keoghan as Dominic Kearney were all phenomenal. Colin is, at last, having time of his life and I’m so happy that he’s being recognized for the kind of talent he possesses.
For those who haven’t watched it yet, please do it ASAP on Disney+ Hotstar (India).
Small insight: I must confess I had this feeling of cutting ties with my close friends some years ago. I actually did cut off my bond with a few of bestest of friends in the past and it took a year or two to be my friend again. Why? You don’t ask, just watch the film and you’d know.
