Belfast: Branagh Gets Personal
Belfast (2022)
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
Starring Jude Hill, Caitríona Balfe and Jamie Dornan
Some people like to show off. Some people like to show off their skills. I presume Kenneth Branagh fits in the latter category.
At the tender age of 29, this actor became a director. His first feature film? Oh just a simple tale called Henry V, a project that earned him a nomination in both the Best Actor and Best Director categories. With it, Branagh demonstrated that he could direct Shakespeare better than most (there are six feature film adaptations). He also demonstrated that he could helm big budget films without sacrificing his personal style. The same is true for follow-ups Thor (2011) and Cinderella (2015). Could the director’s most personal film to date show off his skills on an even a higher level?
As with most coming-of-age films, the child actors’ performances are key to the realism, and Jude Hill delivers as precocious, 9-year-old protestant named Buddy growing up in Northern Ireland in the late 1960’s. The trouble with growing up in Ireland during “The Troubles” is that you kind of had to choose a side. Through Buddy, Branagh does a great job at conveying this absurdity.
The rest of the characters in Belfast seem more beaten down by the drama, each choosing to deal with it in a different way. Each cast member’s performance adds nuance and perspective to the problems of the era, which really had less to do with religion and more to do with a class war between Unionists and loyalists.
My favorites among the supporting cast were Judi Dench and Ciarán Hinds, who played Granny and Pop. Seeing their interplay and the way their faces lit up when they saw young Buddy made the familial bonds feel deep and authentic. This added tension to the film when the violence ratcheted up and Buddy’s safety was in question. Buddy’s mother and father, played by Caitríona Balfe and Jamie Dornan, are asked to bear the brunt of the stress caused by The Troubles and each does well conveying this pressure and anxiety. The rest of the cast, including Buddy’s brother played by Lewis McAskie, do well in their limited screen time.
Branagh’s choice to film 99.8 percent of the film in black and white was a clever one. Like other historical dramas, this visual approach clues us in to a time in the not-too-distant past, and the few frames of added color are an homage to great classic films like Raging Bull (1980) and Schindler’s List (1993).
As the writer, Branagh doesn’t flex his pen in a Shakespearean way; the narrative is simple, stark and modern. This was a great choice, since I assume Buddy’s story is very similar to his own coming of age story.
Some people like to show off and some people like to show off their skills. Maybe with this one, Branagh is doing a bit of both? And why not? When creating a story from a time when his family and their safety was his entire world, what better way to show you care than by showing off a bit? If other films that blend black and white with modest use of color, like Raging Bull (1980) and Schindler’s List (1993), are A’s then Belfast is a B.
I was born and grew up in Belfast and I loved this film. It was a script I could relate to, and frequently moved me to tears. It echoed much that was going in my own life at the time in terms of change, migration, bitter choices, family pressures. The role of the church was portrayed accurately, and the characters had a depth that managed to come across in a short time. I sincerely hope that he is inspired to write more scripts.
Thank you Libby, personal films often move the people they need to move.