Two men are sitting on a wooden bench, one is younger and frowns heavily, the other is older and “heavier” with his hair combed back. Their glasses are full of black stout, in the background the ground is flat, the grass is green, and the sea is a bit stormy.

It could have been an image that anyone would have thought of as an “Irish village”, however it was captured and directed in front of us for us. Martin McDonagh V “Banshee of Inisherin” i.e. where is the movie Colin Farrell And Brendan Gleeson met again under the direction of the director 14 years after In Bruges. But also one of the films they claim 9 Oscars this year, the second largest after the sweeping “Everything Everywhere and At Once” along with the German military epic “All Quiet on the Western Front”.

The film was filmed in the Irish Islands. Akil And innismore, its main characters are Dubliners and the director is Londoner, “made in Ireland”. And this is not the only Irish “blood” shed in this year’s nominations, as there are 12 in total refer to films and/or members from “Emerald Island”.

Inniserin, a fictional island in Ireland, 100 years ago. What appears to be an archetypal male friendship is turned on its head in Banshee of Inisherin, and the languid reality of the characters is shaken by the decision of one (Brendan Gleeson) to end their friendship. That’s when the other (Colin Farrell) turns into an almost Becketian hero before the twist turns blood-tinged and the atmosphere takes on something of Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal.

outside “Grand Prize” -who in a fair world should get this, and not “All Everywhere All At Once”, who will not win only if the furnace collapses – “Inisherin’s Banshee” also claims “technical” awards Direction And Installation (why not photography?), but also scenario, while Carter Barwell with the score he wrote, he is a worthy opponent of Volker Bertelmann (All Quiet on the Western Front) and John Williams (Fabelmans) in the category original music.

More or less, all the main characters of the film are fighting for the golden statuette: Colin Farrell for Best Actor, Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan for Best Supporting Actor, and Kerry Condon nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

While it seems almost “certain” that Brendan Fraser’s performance in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale” will win the prize, Colin Farrell he interprets with great subtlety, but also with the necessary intensity of a good Pada who, even if his only true friends are animals, does not lose hope in people to the end. As for him Brendan Gleeson he gave a convincing interpretation of the fugitive misanthrope Colm, who, although he sees that time is moving backwards, prefers to spend it on music than on “meaningless” talk. A calm interpretive power distinguishes her Kerry Condon (who most of you know as Michael’s fiancee from Better Call Saul) who plays Pad’s book sister. But the real revelation of the film is the 30-year-old Barry Keegan, “Trelantonis” of the island, who sweeps up his every word and grimace (and let him “pick it up”).

In other words, ¼ of the nominees in the acting categories are Irish; with “Kent” is completed Paul Mescal for his interpretation “After the Sun” an affectionate autobiographical debut by Charlotte Wells and a quiet A24 audience bestseller. The actor, whom alternative millennials have come to know from the TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Normal People (and loved enough to have his character’s chain on Instagram), plays a convincing young father trying to make up for the lost time of fatherhood, but also youth, early “cut off”.

Let’s move on to the category international film festival, where we find among other things “Quiet Girl” from Colm Baird which, in turn, takes us to rural Ireland in the early 1980s, where a girl spends her summers with a foster family and acts as a silent observer of what is happening. A classic “serious” but neurotic and light-hearted drama designed for the highest festivals, there is no good reason to watch this particular film, but here you will hear real Irish.

In the end, we stole a little, because “Irish Goodbye” from Tom Berkeley and his Ross White who was nominated for an Oscar Short films comes to us from Northern Ireland. For 23 minutes, the film tries to balance the ideas of grief and brotherhood as we see the reunion of three brothers, one of whom has Down syndrome, on the occasion of the death of their mother.

Let’s see if the lucky clover is on the side of the above candidates. Anyway, hell mor!