You can’t go home again, but you can make a mediocre movie about it
Writer/director Kenneth Branagh, best known for his Shakespeare adaptations, turns his attention from the Elizabethan era to late 1960s Northern Ireland in his new film Belfast. The time and place offer as much drama and conflict as anything by the Bard, but Branagh’s nostalgic film, a black and white period piece based on his own boyhood, feels lightweight and forgettable despite its dramatic context.
The film drops us into the Belfast of August, 1969, an especially intense period of the Troubles – the ongoing conflict between the unionist Protestants and the nationalist Catholics – and focuses on 9-year-old Buddy (Jude Hill), Branagh’s stand in. Buddy must navigate the personal and political chaos around him, without fully comprehending the gravity of either situation. With riots in the streets and tension as home as his parents consider possibly leaving Belfast–the only home Buddy has ever known–Buddy’s idyllic Belfast childhood takes on a darker edge that, despite its confusion, still can’t dissipate his love for his friends, family, and tight-knit community.
In a remarkable casting feat, Hill actually looks exactly like what you’d imagine Branagh must have looked like as a boy. In addition to the resemblance, though, Hill is also a terrific actor, and the film would be even more forgettable were it not for his screen-commanding performance. Buddy loves American westerns and movies, and the expression on his face as he gazes up at the screen at the cinema is no doubt precisely what every filmmaker hopes for from an audience. That young Hill could master this guileless, utterly rapt look of delight is impressive, especially when you consider that an entire crew was probably surrounding him, and yet all we feel is Buddy’s radiant, seemingly authentic joy at what he’s beholding. That scene alone warrants accolades, for the actor and the director.
Caitríona Balfe (Ford v Ferrari) and Jamie Dornan play Buddy’s parents, and since the film is primarily from Buddy’s perspective, they are known to us only as Ma and Pa. Both turn in exceptional work, especially Dornan, who here proves he’s much more than a pretty face after his rote, wooden performances in the groan-inducing Fifty Shades series. Branagh brings out the best in Dornan, and he shows real depth as a man who loves his family and wants to do right by them, but also has personal weaknesses to overcome. Balfe, too, as Ma, is masterful at playing a range of emotions, from frustration at her husband’s choices, to fierce love and worry for her children, to sorrow and fear as her family’s living situation becomes increasingly dangerous.
Rounding out the cast in key roles are the great Dame Judi Dench as Buddy’s Granny, and Belfast native Ciarán Hinds as Buddy’s grandfather, Pop. Both bring genuine warmth and wisdom to their roles, and Hinds shares some especially poignant moments with Hill that are easily the best and most heartfelt in the film.
But for all its excellent acting, Belfast ends up feeling a little hollow. A score and soundtrack by Van Morrison, another son of Belfast, seems to be used to tip us off as to how and what we should be feeling at key moments. Having the music do the work of a well-crafted screenplay is never a good sign. Branagh clearly has affection for his childhood, despite its unrest, and we do feel the love he has for his family and they for him, even as we’re often hit over the head with those emotions: “Your family will always look out for you,” Pop tells Buddy in one of the screenplay’s more prosaic lines.
Branagh’s picture may be a love letter to the Belfast of his youth, but for us, it’s a bit like watching someone else’s home movies: we smile and nod and politely and say, “Oh wow–isn’t that something!” but then we return home, remembering little else of what we’ve seen besides a residual sense of nostalgia for someone else’s life.
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Belfast opens today at Bay Area theaters.
