Cinematographer Ben Davis on the ‘Beautiful Melancholia’ of ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’

Awards Daily talks to The Banshees of Inisherin cinematographer Ben Davis about how he went about shooting those pub interiors, creating space with wide shots, and what he really thinks happens on the beach at the end.

Cinematographer Ben Davis has not one, but two, high-profile movies out this season: My Policeman and The Banshees of Inisherin.

“Every movie is completely different,” says Davis. “I never approach two films in the same way. It’s exciting to see them both out in the same year with different levels of success. I really like both movies, but they are fundamentally different. Yet, they’re both kind of about separation in some way.”

In fact, separation is fundamental to Banshees‘ plot. Without telling Pádraic (Colin Farrell), Colm (Brendan Gleason) ends his friendship with him, who in turn spends the rest of the film trying to figure out why and how he can get him back, all set over a remote Irish island.

“Every scene in Banshees was discussed ad nauseum, going through what we’re trying to say in each scene, what time of day a scene should be shot. If it was an exterior, how would the weather conditions play against the scene or work with the scene? Also, what time of day? When we did Three Billboards together, Martin [McDonagh] was interested in the different emotional qualities with different light at different times of day, and he built a lot of that into the script.”

Davis describes the island as having a “beautiful melancholia” vibe about it.

“I met people who had gone [to the island] for the day and never left. I think there are certain characters that that really appeals to. It’s so isolating, but because of the community and everyone knowing your business, this vast expanse is claustrophobic. One of the key things for me was the wide shots where we tried to create this idea of space. That was something I was very keen on delivering very early on.”

For the interior shots, Davis had a different look in mind.

“With the interiors, I wanted the pub to have this look of 17th-century dutch masters, who would paint against a black oil background on canvas. They would have a central light source that illuminated people with candlelight or oil light. I wanted to try to capture that.”

For the climactic final scene on the beach, Davis describes it as like a western showdown, with the additional challenge of shooting around the Atlantic tides that would change dramatically.

“It’s very static and quite still and played very close to them. It’s quite an emotional scene, until you break away to that final shot when you’re over Mrs. McCormick (Sheila Flitton). For me, it’s not an open ending. I personally think it’s quite clear: They’re not friends anymore and never will be again. I think that final shot as he’s walking away, it’s done. For me, it’s a tragedy.”

But since it also has western vibes, what are Colm and Pádraic’s weapons of choice?

“Anger,” Davis says with a laugh. “And then more anger. Pádraic is such a sweet character, but at the end, he’s a very angry man.”

Davis says that after being on the island for the shoot, he would hear similar stories about feuds, including two brothers who hadn’t spoken for 20 years and nobody could remember why they had fallen out. Before the onset of film and television, these kinds of stories were their own form of entertainment for people.

“Years ago, before cinema existed, you would have gone to a pub and someone would tell you a story. ‘There was this guy once, they were best friends, and he cut his finger’—It just feels like a fable you’d tell by the fire. I like that quality and the originality of it, because there are such few original stories.”

The Banshees of Inisherin is now playing everywhere.