Belfast (2021)

[Eric Duncan]

Discuss

[ddddeeee]

As a Kenneth Branagh fan and someone who was born and bred in Belfast and then had to leave to live in England, I can't begin to look at this objectively. 

 

Hinds and Dench reminded me so much of my late nanny and granda that I was honestly sobbing at every interaction they had. 

 

The way Balfe spoke to Buddy was the exact way my mum would scold me.

 

I won't flatter my dad with a Jamie Dornan comparison, but I got the same 'as long as they're kind' speech he gives in this anytime the idea of Protestantism would come up (which was every day on the news).

 

It's not for everyone, but it's 100% for me.

Edited January 29, 2022 by ddddeeee

[filmlover]

I actually thought this was a really lovely little slice-of-life drama. This is clearly a very personal project for Kenneth Branagh (unlike the beleaguered studio movie he also made that's finally seeing the light of day in a few weeks) and it shows, as all the little touches add up to create a realistic portrait of a nice little family that's clearly based on his but could just as easily have been based on anyone's. Helps that he's recruited a great cast to bring them to life: newcomer Jude Hill is a delightful discovery, and he's complimented by equally excellent performances from Caitriona Balfe and Jamie Dornan (although if he were to be nominated for a movie this year, I think I would prefer it be for his hilarious work in Barb & Star lol). Superb production values too, as Branagh allows moments of obvious personal significance to stand out with the rare appearance of color in this otherwise black-and-white affair. A pleasant surprise. A-

[Jonwo]

On 1/28/2022 at 4:23 AM, filmlover said:

I actually thought this was a really lovely little slice-of-life drama. This is clearly a very personal project for Kenneth Branagh (unlike the beleaguered studio movie he also made that's finally seeing the light of day in a few weeks) and it shows, as all the little touches add up to create a realistic portrait of a nice little family that's clearly based on his but could just as easily have been based on anyone's. Helps that he's recruited a great cast to bring them to life: newcomer Jude Hill is a delightful discovery, and he's complimented by equally excellent performances from Caitriona Balfe and Jamie Dornan (although if he were to be nominated for a movie this year, I think I would prefer it be for his hilarious work in Barb & Star lol). Superb production values too, as Branagh allows moments of obvious personal significance to stand out with the rare appearance of color in this otherwise black-and-white affair. A pleasant surprise. A-

It's a lovely film although there are some scenes which are clearly for dramatic effect like when Ma and Pa tell Buddy they might be moving to England on Christmas Day which I thought was unrealistic because no sane parents would tell their kid about a dramatic move at Christmas knowing they'd rightly get upset.