While writer-director-actor Kenneth
Branagh’s 70mm epic Death on the Nile continues to experience ongoing
COVID-19 delays, rather than sit and wait Branagh sprung to action to make what
could be his most semi-autobiographical and personal paean to his childhood
upbringing yet with Belfast!Set
in Belfast, Northern Ireland during the so-called The Troubles which saw
a civil war between Irish Catholics and Protestants from 1969 to 1970, the film
depicts a pivotal moment in history through the eyes and recollections of a
young boy named Buddy (Jude Hill).Co-starring Jamie Dornan, Caitríona Balfe, Ciarán Hinds and Judi Dench, the film is an
ensemble slice-of-life through Summer 1969 capturing from start to finish both
the upheaval experienced by as well as joys shared by the residents living in
Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Told as a series of vignettes
throughout the Summer rather than follow a conventional narrative through the framework
of The Troubles, opening on a riot that spurs tensions between Catholic
residents living in Belfast and Protestants poised to drive them out, Belfast
follows Buddy who with his family is faced with a painful choice of leaving
Belfast and his grandparents behind with it.As helicopters hover over the area, Buddy finds solace in his
grandparents played by Judi Dench and Ciarán Hinds who unquestionably gives the
film’s strongest performance.Hinds has
always been a great character actor, sometimes taking on leading roles as with The Eclipse, and here is a role which seems tailor made for the veteran
performer.
Lensed in black-and-white with
occasional key yet minimal uses of color lensed by recurring Branagh
collaborator Haris Zambarloukos and glistening with a pulsating series of
original songs by Belfast native Van Morrison, Belfast is a kind of
tapestry of life in an distinct area of Northern Ireland during a particular
moment in time that glistens before the eyes and ears.Consider a sequence used to great effect in
the film’s trailer where vocals sung by Jamie Dornan, arriving in context in a
way that feels at once triumphant and full of life, bring the viewer to an even
greater artistic musical high than even the most elaborate of numbers in the
recently released In the Heights.Like the film itself, it is a scene alive with vibrant energy bursting
with joy amid a period of darkness. One thing that stands out throughout Belfast
are recurring vistas of the town engulfed by dark clouds and rain.Usually this image is used to evoke ominous fears
and anxieties, but here over repeated use it becomes kind of tranquil and in
its manner even heavenly.Like the
little boy Buddy leading the picture, we find ourselves conflicted with wanting
to remain in this paradise while also acknowledging the increasingly dangerous
realities growing around those living there.It is a difficult place to be but to the characters in Belfast,
not a soul would trade living there for anything.
Made with an invigorating and youthful joy
which very likely brought the film’s writer-director back many years, Belfast
is a splendid crowd pleaser, slice of life, semi-autobiographical tale and
above all a fond memory replete with all the good and bad that came with being
there. Featuring striking performances
from the ensemble cast and a playful use of imagery and music beset by the
already beautiful location photography, Kenneth Branagh’s newest film is perhaps
the one he has been working towards his whole career. As Roger Ebert once said of Tarantino’s Kill
Bill, it is plainly a work of ‘skill, grace and joy’ made at the height of
Branagh’s creative power in a film that truly stems from the director’s heart.
