Belfast (Branagh) 2021

While I don’t quite agree with this being up for Best Picture at the Oscars earlier this year, I do understand the appeal for certain audiences.

Set at the beginning of The Troubles in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1969, the film follows a young boy named Buddy (Jude Hill) as he navigates those troubled times with his parents (Caitríona Balfe and Jamie Dornan) and grandparents (Judi Dench and Ciarán Hinds).

​This is the first part where the film lost me a bit in that I didn’t connect with the story. It’s obviously a very personal story for Branagh who is from Belfast and would have been around Buddy’s age at the time of the events depicted.

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The story feels so much like a stage production with cramped sets and a rather fake looking barrier that one might see along the back of a theater stage. That said, the cinematography throughout is wonderful. The way we see things through the eyes of young Buddy, from the events on the street that begin The Troubles, to the hushed conversations the adults don’t want him to hear, are well executed and it’s easy to see the craft in the film.

On top of that, the cast is excellent, as evidenced by Oscar nominations for both Dench and Hinds. Dornan was a bit less convincing for me as Buddy’s father, but still managed to get across the love for his son, even as he had to be away for extended periods for his work.

I can understand why many people lauded this as one of the best films of 2021, but still just couldn’t make that connection on a personal level to it. I appreciate the artistry and care put into making the film, but stop short of calling it a true masterpiece.

7 out of 10