Telling this story from a child’s eye is a catch-22, in that it works to simplify the larger politics of the conflict for audiences who might not know much about this time, but it’s also a bit too simply shown at the expense of stressing the importance of what actually happened.īuddy is a wonderful protagonist, but the other internal conflicts between his parents, as well as the one between his father (Jamie Dornan) and local gang leader Billy (Colin Morgan), don’t get fleshed out enough because of how “on the outside” of it Buddy is. The film is told from the perspective of Buddy (Jude Hill) as he tries to understand the greater world, balanced against the ethno-nationalist turmoil that has come to his neighborhood. However, Branagh is able to reach a universal message on the definition of home, and perfectly captures the tug-of-war in wanting to stay where you come from, yet striving to leave for safety and better opportunities. Contrasted with the black and white of the past, this is the only connection to what Belfast is today, and if you’re not from there, it’s difficult to pick up on the nuances of what Branagh is trying to say about how the past informs the present. Though this portrait of a loving family struggling to navigate a tumultuous time in their town has its moving moments, Belfast’s cumbersome pace and inner conflict amongst the characters gets lost in the larger meditation on the idea of where we call “home.”īy filming Belfast in black and white, Branagh tenderly reaches for the nostalgia of his youth, but it’s a mostly muted attempt to provide insight further than “this happened a while ago.” The film opens up on bright colors of present-day Belfast, Ireland, with establishing shots that look more like stock photos in motion.
Belfast is a new semi-autobiographical film from director Kenneth Branagh, chronicling a young boy’s life during the Northern Ireland conflict, also known as “The Troubles,” during the late 1960s.