Kenneth Branagh’s ‘Belfast’ Is A Stirring Coming-of-Age Portrait With Magnificent Performances [Telluride Review]

Directors mining their lives for a story is nothing new, but it’s always exciting to see that premise connect with viewers beyond its maker. Such were the audience reactions to Kenneth Branagh’s stirring revisit to the Belfast of his childhood: there were sobs, gasps, and so much laughter. Opening with a colorful travel ad-like introduction to today’s Belfast (Public art! Glorious old buildings!) Branagh moves into a black and white version of Belfast in 1969, when the life of a young 9-year-old boy named Buddy (Jude Hill) is disrupted by the Protestant violence targeting his Catholic neighbors. In-between trying to understand religious intolerance and his new militarized neighborhood, Buddy goes on with life. He comes home to his Ma (Caitriona Balfe) and brother Will (Lewis McAskie), and they all await the return of Pa (Jamie Dornan) from his job in London. After school, Buddy sometimes stops by his grandparents’ (Ciarán Hinds and Judi Dench) home for advice on how to talk to his crush and confess his fears about leaving home. “Belfast” is both an idyllic snapshot of a tight-knit family and a film about the decision to leave or stay in one’s hometown, told through the story of a boy coming to terms with the fact that life is as unpredictable as that violent day that changed everything. 

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As Branagh’s most personal movie, “Belfast” holds so much love for its characters. The villains of this story represent the intolerant goons who try to turn neighbor against neighbor until they poison the environment to the point that it becomes too toxic to live in. But in Buddy’s home and the home of his grandparents, there’s a refuge – a place where he can still be a kid. Branagh, who also wrote the script, captures not just Buddy’s view of the world, but the problems his parents face, like struggling with money and protecting their kids. His choice to shoot in black and white with cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos brings to mind other recent personal projects like Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma” and Pawel Pawlikowski’s “Cold War,” both recreations of the past based on the experiences of loved ones. 

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There are not enough platitudes to heap on the performance Branagh coached out of Hill. He is the quintessential bright-eyed youngster who sees the world in all its wonderment, confusion and fear yet is still excited to run out the doors of his home every day to play with his cousins and go to school and see the girl he wants to marry (remember, he’s nine). His enthusiasm carries so much of the movie that whenever fear or sadness get the better of him, it feels more pronounced and heartbreaking. The rest of the supporting cast is equally as stupendous, especially Hinds and Dench, who make an adorable odd couple and steal every scene they’re in with their banter and heartfelt reactions to the innocent questions Buddy asks them. In addition to Hill, Balfe is also a welcome surprise. She’s a powerful screen presence who adds another emotional element to the story as a long-suffering wife trying to keep her family together. By comparison, Dornan’s performance feels more muted but just as subtly emotional, as a man torn between his need to protect his family and work obligations that take him elsewhere. He’s not the perfect father – many of Ma’s frustrations are rooted in cleaning up the gambling and tax messes Pa’s left – but his fight to keep his family safe is both a physical and internal one, and it’s a tension Dornan taps into anytime someone tries to hurt his character’s kids. 

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Beyond the stunning performances, Branagh also weaves in details of Buddy’s daily life into the production and sound design. He and his sound team shrink the audience down to Buddy’s size as he listens to the overheard conversations of grown-ups above, immerses himself in the sounds of a busy street, and listens to his parents’ hushed conversations behind corners. It adds an extra dimension to experiencing Buddy’s life from his perspective. 

Another noticeable visual choice in Zambarloukos’ cinematography is when Buddy’s black and white life bursts into color when he goes to the movies with his family to see “One Million Years B.C.” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” or goes to a production of “A Christmas Carol” with his grandmother. Suddenly, there’s an entirely new reality breaking through his grey Belfast bubble, and it feels thrilling to see color fill the screen in such short explosions. These moments energize him and leave him in a state of wonderment. Even on a smaller scale, the black and white westerns “High Noon” and “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” or broadcasts of “Star Trek” punctuate the daily drama of his home and transport him to worlds beyond his own. However, when the chance to leave Belfast and its escalating violence between religious groups arrives, Buddy’s love of cinema and theater can’t prepare him for the loss of the familiar. At a distance, these faraway adventures were a distraction from harsher realities, but leaving home is a much more painful departure than stepping into the confines of a theater or plopping down in front of the television. The separation doesn’t stop when the show’s over. 

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Although there are a few narrative shortcuts inserted to move the movie along, it’s not much of a detriment to the story’s overall impact. The emotional moments are given plenty of breathing time, and the tiny mundane moments between Buddy and his family are given the same respect. The parts of the movie that are going to resonate the most have the pacing they need to bring up one’s own memories of listening to a grandparent’s advice, of doing something you shouldn’t have to impress someone, or working up the nerve to talk to someone you liked. Perhaps these resurfaced memories are an unintended souvenir of visiting Branagh’s “Belfast,” but it’s one that may stick with moviegoers for quite some time after the credits roll. [A]

Follow along with our full coverage from the 2021 Telluride Film Festival here.