About BELFAST

 I saw the current Best Picture Oscar nominee, BELFAST, written and directed by Kenneth Branagh. It's a semi-autobiographical story. First of all, I must mention that Branagh holds a nice place in my heart. When there was a premiere party in New York City for his 1993 version of Shakespeare's MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, also written and directed by Branagh, I got him alone for a couple of casual minutes and said that Black filmgoers would go see the classical comedy because Denzel Washington had a major part in it. He smiled and replied that he exercises racial inclusion in his films for that very reason. He realized that representation matters. I appreciate him for that.

BELFAST is a drama that shows us life through a child's eyes, life that includes severe events that will impact the family life. Think of Jem and Scout in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, the big brother protecting his little sister in THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER starring Robert Mitchum, and the boy obsessed with his ending his irresponsible parents' mounting debt trouble caused by their overspending in the British film, THE ROCKING HORSE WINNER. In BELFAST, the event is the religious civil war in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s.

The film opens with overhead shots of modern-day Belfast in color. Then the camera pans up to an overhead view in black and white. It's Belfast in August 1969. The rest of the film will be in black and white. We meet little Buddy, very well-played by child actor Jude Hill. Buddy's family isn't Catholic, but his father has stressed to him to be kind and respect other people. The opening has a gripping sequence, shot documentary style, of violent Protestant loyalists storming into town setting fires to buildings and cars and breaking windows. They shout for Catholics to get out. Buddy sees all this before his runs to him humble home where his financially struggling family watches news reports of this horror on the TV and then lightens up the mood by watching STAR TREK. Buddy's older male relatives are being forced by a local loyalist to join the anti-Catholic cause. They resist. Buddy has a crush on a Catholic classmate. His loving mother is increasingly stressed by the mounting bills they have to pay during that civil war. 

Even little Buddy will be leaned on heavily to join the anti-Catholic protests. The parents realize that they just have to leave their home and Buddy's sweet grandparents in Belfast and relocate to a more peaceful location where jobs are available. Another thing that impacts Buddy's life -- in a very positive way -- is the movies he watched on TV and at the cinema with family members. Such films as HIGH NOON, THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE, ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. and CHITTY, CHITTY, BANG, BANG. In this section, I felt Branagh could've benefitted from a good co-writer. The storyline becomes more CINEMA PARADISO and strays from the underlying tension of the war. It sagged just a wee bit. Nevertheless, I did like the acting as Buddy learns about community, discrimination and the depth of family members. Here's a brief look at BELFAST.

Ciaran Hinds and Judi Dench play the grandparents and got Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominations. Caitriona Balfe is strong as the financially and emotionally troubled, devoted mother. Who really stood out to me is the actor who dances with her and played her rather heroic working-class husband.  Jamie Dornan makes a great impression as Buddy's father. He's got movie star good looks, screen charisma and definite acting skills. 

Overall, as a film, I was more fully emotionally engrossed by another black and white film. Granted it is about a different topic in a different place at a different time. Still, PASSING is a totally riveting drama that should be in the Best Picture Oscar nominee group and Ruth Negga should be an Oscar nominee, just like Judi Dench, for her devasting performance. PASSING is about racial secretiveness, acceptance and intolerance here in a country where matters of race once fueled a Civil War. BELFAST is good and the kind of film traditional, veteran Motion Picture Academy members love. It runs 97 minutes.