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Colin Farrell on his 'painful, violent' new Irish film

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Eric Randolph, Agence France Presse

VENICE, Italy - Colin Farrell&#x27;s new film, starring alongside old friend Brendan Gleeson, takes the pitch-black humour of their much-loved &quot;In Bruges&quot; to even darker, stranger places. &quot;The Banshees of Inisherin&quot;, which won gushing reviews as it premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival on Monday, reunites Farrell and Gleeson with writer-director Martin McDonagh following their 2008 gangster comedy. Set on a remote Irish island during the civil war of the 1920s, it is a macabre tale of an ageing man (Gleeson) who one day decides he cannot waste any more time with his younger friend (Farrell) who is distracting him from making music. &quot;It was both very familiar and completely singular,&quot; Farrell told AFP. &quot;&#x27;In Bruges&#x27; was a friendship being built between this odd couple. This is the opposite... such a painful, violent dissolving of a friendship.&quot;Good friends in real life, the two actors were unsure if they should keep apart during the filming. &quot;We cleared it at the start -- do we need to keep a distance? But it wasn&#x27;t like that,&quot; Gleeson told AFP. Still, the tension does &quot;bleed into the way you are,&quot; he added. &quot;We were both conscious that would happen and we gave each other enough space.&quot;<div>HORSE AND CART</div>The film raises the debate of whether artists need to isolate themselves to get work done.Gleeson said: &quot;It took me a while to understand the need for a bloody trailer (on film sets), to get the hell away from everybody -- the amount of energy being expanded just chatting to people, being nice to them...&quot;Filming on the beautiful island of Inishmore certainly helped in that respect. &quot;The island gave us life. The distance (the people) gave us was astonishing,&quot; said Farrell. But Gleeson interjected to remind him about a group of tourists who followed him on a horse and cart. &quot;He went for a run and tried to out-run it, but no,&quot; he said, as both broke out laughing. &quot;You had a great conversation with the horse -- you were neck-and-neck!&quot; <div>&#x27;SUPPRESSED RAGE&#x27;</div>The movie got strong reviews across the board following its premiere on Monday, with Variety calling it McDonagh&#x27;s &quot;richest, most moving film&quot; and Farrell&#x27;s performance praised as one of the best of year by Time. McDonagh, whose &quot;Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri&quot; won Best Screenplay in Venice five years ago, is known for kicking against cinematic cliches. &quot;It&#x27;s so easy not to follow the usual tropes, not to be boring,&quot; he told AFP. &quot;As long as the characters are truthful... you can go from an odd starting place to odd places, and still have it be an exciting, funny, dark story. &quot;But definitely I always kick against cliches -- I&#x27;m never going to be making a Marvel film,&quot; he added. The civil war is only briefly mentioned, but serves as a fitting backdrop to the events on the island. &quot;It&#x27;s a sad reflection of exactly what was going on in the civil war where brothers were fighting each other,&quot; said Kerry Condon, who plays Farrell&#x27;s sister.&quot;But Martin&#x27;s humour comes in with the fact that the people on the island don&#x27;t care too much about the war.&quot;Her character&#x27;s exasperation with the self-important men and their arguments is something Condon could understand.&quot;Of course it’s something I could relate to!&quot; she said, laughing. &quot;And the suppressed rage. Though I don&#x27;t suppress my rage.&quot;

Colin Farrell's new film, starring alongside old friend Brendan Gleeson, takes the pitch-black humour of their much-loved 'In Bruges' to even darker, stranger places. 

Colin Farrell on his 'painful, violent' new Irish film

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Colin Farrell on his 'painful, violent' new Irish film

Eric Randolph,

Agence France Presse

Published Sep 07, 2022 10:31 AM PHT

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Colin Farrell

The Banshees of Inisherin

Venice Film Festival

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