Alright, I've seen some pretty great movies as of late (tops: Cmon Cmon, Licorice Pizza & Drive My Car), but failed to write any reviews for them because for some reason I struggle the most to write reviews for movies I loved?... Anyways, to get out of my writing slump, I did just see Belfast this past weekend, and thought I'd quickly jot down some thoughts. Now I know this is one not too many people rushed to go see, and there are a lot of mixed opinions about it out there, but it was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, so I felt I needed to go see it, and maybe encourage others to go out and give it a try.
This is one that I started out not liking, but found myself enjoying more and more as it went on. It's a technically very flawed film, as the flow of the story is a little disjointed, and the editing felt pretty awkward and weird at times, jumping from sudden shots that didn't really serve a purpose to the story. But at its heart, it elicited a pretty great emotional response on my part that sort of sneaked up on me. It doesn't hurt that the star of the movie is sweet 11-year old Jude Hill, who delivered an incredibly emotive and sweet performance, and the more the movie went on, the more I got attached to him and his emotional journey and discoveries. The script reminded me on how fresh and innocent we view the world as children, and to see this boy try to logically understand the chaos and violence going on around him, was at the same time endearing and really quite sad. The moments of joy in the movie felt extra special because it took you away from what's a pretty grim story, and so the joy felt greater for it.
The black and white of it all didn't bother me, nor did I think it brought an element that helped elevate the message of the story. I think I would've gotten the same amount out of it if it had been in color.
A lot of people's criticism around this story seemed to be how it didn't give enough of a voice to what people in Ireland went through in the late 60's, or it made it seem smaller, or that it's a shame a story about it was about a family who left instead of stayed and fought. But this is Kenneth Branagh's story that he wanted to tell, and it did feel very personal to him, so you can't fault the guy for showing and writing what only he knows. It reminded me of how Tarantino's "once upon a time" was clearly a movie for him. Same goes for this one, so I can't fault it for that.