Belfast (2021)
Country: GB
Technical: bw/col 98m
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Cast: Jude Hill, Caitríona Balfe, Jamie Dornan, Judi Dench, Ciarán Hinds
Synopsis:
As sectarianism begins to divide communities in Northern Ireland, one Protestant family resists pressures to shun its Catholic neighbours, and while their young boy is buffeted by events beyond his control, he clings on to his time with his grandparents, family trips to the pictures, and courting the cleverest girl in his class.
Review:
An unashamed piece of auto-fiction which cannot help but recall Boorman's Hope and Glory. Black and white aestheticises and mythologises dangerously even as it inspires admiration for the DP's work in capturing the domestic clutter and shifting cloudscapes. Branagh's more theatrical touches - an opening amble around busy doorsteps and a Western face-off along the barricaded street - may be overly sugar-coated for some tastes but situate us firmly within the child's field of perception. Among an accomplished adult cast Hinds provides the choicest moments, while Dench gets the last word, her head bowed behind clouded glass.
Country: GB
Technical: bw/col 98m
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Cast: Jude Hill, Caitríona Balfe, Jamie Dornan, Judi Dench, Ciarán Hinds
Synopsis:
As sectarianism begins to divide communities in Northern Ireland, one Protestant family resists pressures to shun its Catholic neighbours, and while their young boy is buffeted by events beyond his control, he clings on to his time with his grandparents, family trips to the pictures, and courting the cleverest girl in his class.
Review:
An unashamed piece of auto-fiction which cannot help but recall Boorman's Hope and Glory. Black and white aestheticises and mythologises dangerously even as it inspires admiration for the DP's work in capturing the domestic clutter and shifting cloudscapes. Branagh's more theatrical touches - an opening amble around busy doorsteps and a Western face-off along the barricaded street - may be overly sugar-coated for some tastes but situate us firmly within the child's field of perception. Among an accomplished adult cast Hinds provides the choicest moments, while Dench gets the last word, her head bowed behind clouded glass.
Country: GB
Technical: bw/col 98m
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Cast: Jude Hill, Caitríona Balfe, Jamie Dornan, Judi Dench, Ciarán Hinds
Synopsis:
As sectarianism begins to divide communities in Northern Ireland, one Protestant family resists pressures to shun its Catholic neighbours, and while their young boy is buffeted by events beyond his control, he clings on to his time with his grandparents, family trips to the pictures, and courting the cleverest girl in his class.
Review:
An unashamed piece of auto-fiction which cannot help but recall Boorman's Hope and Glory. Black and white aestheticises and mythologises dangerously even as it inspires admiration for the DP's work in capturing the domestic clutter and shifting cloudscapes. Branagh's more theatrical touches - an opening amble around busy doorsteps and a Western face-off along the barricaded street - may be overly sugar-coated for some tastes but situate us firmly within the child's field of perception. Among an accomplished adult cast Hinds provides the choicest moments, while Dench gets the last word, her head bowed behind clouded glass.