THE CREATIVE team behind one of the best Irish films of the modern era is set to reunite later this year for a movie that’s not to be missed.
In Bruges earned rave reviews upon its release in 2008, with writer/director Martin McDonagh bagging the majority of the plaudits along with his two Irish leads, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson.
Farrell starred as Ray; a hitman riddled with guilt after a job gone wrong who finds himself sent to the picturesque city of Bruges in Belgium to lie low.
He’s joined by his partner and Ken (Gleeson) with the pair embarking on a sightseeing tour while they await further instructions.
Much of the film’s success rests on their natural rapport, with Farrell’s nervy performance Ray bouncing perfectly off the world-weary and stoic sensibilities of Gleeson’s Ken.
Darkly humorous and brimming with sardonic wit, Farrell won a Golden Globe for his performance in the film while McDonagh went on to further critical acclaim and eventually an Oscar for his work on Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
Now the trio are set to reunite with The Banshees of Inisheer.
Based on a previously unproduced play by McDonagh first conceived back in 1994, the action will centre on a remote Irish island, with speculation rife that Aran could serve as the backdrop.
Gleeson and Farrell play a pair of lifelong friends who find their relationship tested to breaking point when one suddenly cuts ties with the other.
As is often the case with McDonagh stories, that decision will have dark and hilarious consequences for all involved. While work on the project is ongoing, Gleeson has revealed that filming is due to begin this August.
He told Ryan Tubridy on The Late Late Show: "Hopefully, we can go in August here. It will be brilliant if we get it done here. Yeah, it will be myself, Colin and Martin McDonagh," he said.
The Banshees of Inisheer was originally written by McDonagh as the finale of his 'Aran Islands trilogy’ of plays but never saw the light of day.
