← Back to Reviews
in
Belfast
Director and screenwriter Kenneth Branagh scores with 2021's Belfast, an ambitious and gut-wrenching look at war primarily through the eyes of a child that provides genuine originality through sterling production values that provide often some arresting visuals, and a handful of remarkable performances.
The movie opens in 1969 Belfast, Northern Ireland during the frightening religious conflict there between the Protestants and the Catholics and has had a profound effect on the family of a young boy named Buddy. whose parents and grandparents are doing everything they can to shield the boy and his older brother from the horrors of what is going on. Sadly, Buddy's parents have done such a good job of protecting Buddy from what's going on, that he is resistant when his parents suggest they must leave Belfast for their own safety. Not to mention that Buddy has begun to develop a crush on a girl at school, who, is, of course, Catholic while Buddy is Protestant.
Branagh's screenplay establishes battle lines in a place where the lines are often hard to understand. I was a kid myself when all this was going on and there was a time that I remember Belfast being mentioned on the news on a daily basis. The war in Belfast was particularly frustrating because this was another conflict fought in the name of God, a troubling but realistic foundation for a lot of our world's history of war.
Loved Branagh's visual conception of the story. The story opens with a colorful postcard of present day Belfast then flashes back to 1969 where the majority of the story is told in black and white. It's then established that this family's only escape from the horrors of the war are through trips to the cinema and to the theater. When the family goes to the cinema to see Raquel Welch in One Million Years BC and when they go to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the clips of these movies are in color. There's also a lovely scene where Buddy and his grandmother go to see a stage version of A Christmas Carol, where the audience is in black and white, but the show onstage is in color. There's a lovely shot of Grandma in the audience watching the show in black and white and the reflection of the show onstage in her glasses is in color...just amazing.
Branagh has mounted a story that doesn't offer a lot of contrived and pat answers to this senseless war, but it offers enough of a balance between realism and hope that we remain invested in what's going on. Caitriona Balfe and Jamie Dorman are impressively conflicted as Buddy's parents and an unrecognizable Judi Dench offers an Oscar-worthy turn as Buddy's grandmother, but it is young Jude Hill who commands the screen and carries the film as young Buddy, a performance that should earn him an Oscar nomination. Must also mention Branagh;s choice of a song score for this story, which frames the story perfectly and completely defies description. A winner.
Director and screenwriter Kenneth Branagh scores with 2021's Belfast, an ambitious and gut-wrenching look at war primarily through the eyes of a child that provides genuine originality through sterling production values that provide often some arresting visuals, and a handful of remarkable performances.
The movie opens in 1969 Belfast, Northern Ireland during the frightening religious conflict there between the Protestants and the Catholics and has had a profound effect on the family of a young boy named Buddy. whose parents and grandparents are doing everything they can to shield the boy and his older brother from the horrors of what is going on. Sadly, Buddy's parents have done such a good job of protecting Buddy from what's going on, that he is resistant when his parents suggest they must leave Belfast for their own safety. Not to mention that Buddy has begun to develop a crush on a girl at school, who, is, of course, Catholic while Buddy is Protestant.
Branagh's screenplay establishes battle lines in a place where the lines are often hard to understand. I was a kid myself when all this was going on and there was a time that I remember Belfast being mentioned on the news on a daily basis. The war in Belfast was particularly frustrating because this was another conflict fought in the name of God, a troubling but realistic foundation for a lot of our world's history of war.
Loved Branagh's visual conception of the story. The story opens with a colorful postcard of present day Belfast then flashes back to 1969 where the majority of the story is told in black and white. It's then established that this family's only escape from the horrors of the war are through trips to the cinema and to the theater. When the family goes to the cinema to see Raquel Welch in One Million Years BC and when they go to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the clips of these movies are in color. There's also a lovely scene where Buddy and his grandmother go to see a stage version of A Christmas Carol, where the audience is in black and white, but the show onstage is in color. There's a lovely shot of Grandma in the audience watching the show in black and white and the reflection of the show onstage in her glasses is in color...just amazing.
Branagh has mounted a story that doesn't offer a lot of contrived and pat answers to this senseless war, but it offers enough of a balance between realism and hope that we remain invested in what's going on. Caitriona Balfe and Jamie Dorman are impressively conflicted as Buddy's parents and an unrecognizable Judi Dench offers an Oscar-worthy turn as Buddy's grandmother, but it is young Jude Hill who commands the screen and carries the film as young Buddy, a performance that should earn him an Oscar nomination. Must also mention Branagh;s choice of a song score for this story, which frames the story perfectly and completely defies description. A winner.