Review: Belfast

Five Time Oscar Nominee Kenneth Branagh’s love letter to his childhood spent growing up in Northern Ireland, jumps off the screen with the early Oscar Hopeful, Belfast.

Belfast isn’t ‘Based on a true story’ or ‘Inspired by true events’, because “It needed to find all the ways in which it might connect with a larger audience, in that they might identify some of of the issues to do with family.”  Words straight from Kenneth Branaugh’s mouth in order to not make it about him, and not a biopic.

Instead, we focus on ‘Buddy’, ‘Ma’, ‘Pa’, and the rest of the family.

The Plot – Belfast

The Family

Nine year old Buddy, played by newcomer Jude Hill, is your typical kid.  He has sword fights with his friends, knows all the people in the neighborhood, and spends lots of time with his family.

Buddy’s family struggles financially, like many in their working class neighborhood of Belfast.  Buddy’s Pa, played by Fifty Shades Of Grey’s Jamie Dornan, must travel across the ocean to find work, and is gone for weeks at a time.

Buddy’s Ma, played by Caitriona Balfe, is left to raise Buddy and his older brother, Will, played by Lewis McAskie, largely by herself.

Ma does have the help of Pa’s parents Granny and Pop, played by Dame Judi Dench and Ciaran Hinds.

School And Growing Up

Buddy goes to the neighborhood Elementary School, or ‘Primary School’, as they are called in Northern Ireland.  He soon develops a crush on a girl in his class, and starts asking his Pop and Granny for dating advice.

Buddy studies hard on his Math tests, as seating in class is determined by test results, and Catherine is always near the head of the class.  Eventually, Buddy gets his wish, but is too nervous to say anything to her.  Pop nudges Buddy to ask Catherine to work on a school project with him.  Hence, the beginnings of Buddy’s first love.

Pa returns home every few weeks to spend time with this family, but with him comes the money troubles, and the hard discussions with Ma.

Also, entering Buddy’s world is the beginning of the Troubles.  A TV News story about high unemployment, a shadowy figure asking Buddy if his Pa is around; and the adults of the neighborhood exchanging knowing looks, that Buddy sees, but doesn’t fully understand.

The Good – Belfast

The Cinematography

It’s been said that human memories fade to black and white with age.  After briefly showing Belfast as it looks today, we see the Belfast of Buddy’s youth, in Black and White; showing us we’re seeing ADULT Buddy’s memories looking back on his childhood, not Buddy’s fresh memories from when he was growing up.

9 year old Buddy’s point of view is mostly Black and White, with some circular color gradients sprinkled in during more vivid memories.  Think Pleasantville’s primary Black and White aesthetic, but instead of using color when characters lose their innocence in a specific and distinct visual way; Belfast uses a much more subtle, much harder to spot use of color, at first.

Belfast uses a circle of color, or select colors at the center of the screen; and gradually drops the color off to black and white around the edges.  As the color drops off in a ‘gradient’, the transition is brilliantly and subtly done; not following any shapes or specific figures in the image, but following the general area of the screen.

Sometimes the color shows a relatively full color spectrum, but much of the time, the yellow part of the color spectrum comes through, showing off young Buddy’s blonde hair.  As the film goes on, you notice the colors more and more, as the memories become less faded.

Jude Hill

While not being directly a biopic about Kenneth Branagh’s childhood, Belfast still draws from Branagh’s life; including casting Jude Hill as Buddy.

Buddy clearly represents a standin for Branagh himself, making the casting of Buddy absolutely critical.  Jude Hill’s performance as Buddy must carry the entire film, not only as the main character; but also as partial narrator of the story.

There is a reason production company TKBC and distributor Focus Features were flying many film critics to Los Angeles for a press screening and junket to promote this film.  That doesn’t happen (especially in a pandemic), if the film isn’t great, and the main character knocks it out of the park.

Jude Hill’s emotional range as Buddy is quite amazing.  Hill nails the innocence and joy of childhood seen at the beginning of the film, as well as the frustrations of first love, and the confusion as to why his neighborhood and world are falling apart.  And all of this happens in just 98 minutes of run time.

Delicate Subject Matter

There is a reason why the saying goes to ‘never discuss religion or politics in polite company’.  But, how do you make a movie like Belfast without opening up old wounds, or giving short shrift to the subject matter?

Director Kenneth Branagh’s solution may be simple, but it works exceedingly well.  Since this is not a story about the Troubles, but rather about a family going through The Troubles, the focus remains on the family. 

Since Buddy is the point of view character for the story, the lens we see this film through is limited to the eyes of a 9 year old.  Buddy struggles to understand even the basics of why so many people hate each other.

This is a great way to handle difficult subject matter without losing focus of the story, and without rehashing old wounds and pointing fingers of blame.

The Review – Belfast

Belfast is a love letter to family and the magic of childhood; as well as to the people and places of Belfast that Kenneth Branagh was born into.

Jude Hill as Buddy jumps off the screen with the magic of childhood and the sadness of watching his neighborhood and family fall apart.  The emotional awareness and subtlety of performance are on point throughout the film.

Judi Dench and Ciaran Hinds give delightful performances as Buddy’s Grandparents.  And, Caitriona Balfe shines as Buddy’s Ma struggles under the financial and logistical pressures to keep her family together.

Jamie Dornan gives a surprisingly subtle performance as Pa in limited screen time.  We see him as the romanticized Father of Buddy’s youth, but we also see him as a man trying to provide for his family, maintain a marriage, and facing the mortality of his own parents.  Far from his wooden and laconic performance of Fifty Shades, Dornan gives a warm and human performance as Pa.

The Black and White Cinematography, and the music of Belfast native Van Morrison add a depth and gritt to the world of ‘Belfast’ we might not otherwise get from a film set mostly on neighborhood streets and in a schoolhouse.

You can feel the love and attention to detail from Kenneth Branagh pouring out of every frame of this film.  Totally worth all of the early Oscar Buzz and worth watching in the theater!

Go see Belfast!

Additional Information

Belfast Trailer

Dragon Movie Guy Belfast Instant Movie Review

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