{"id":15135,"date":"2021-11-28T10:12:47","date_gmt":"2021-11-28T15:12:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=15135"},"modified":"2025-10-12T17:39:43","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T21:39:43","slug":"belfast-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=15135","title":{"rendered":"Belfast-2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

Belfast-2021<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director Kenneth Branagh<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Jamie Dornan, Caitr\u00edona<\/b> Balfe, Jude Hill<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #1,202<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed November 28, 2021<\/p>\n

Grade: A-<\/strong><\/p>\n

Belfast (2021) is a film I wanted to see based solely on the year-end awards buzz it is receiving as of this writing. The trailer would lead you to believe that the film is a sentimental and heartwarming journey through the lives of a group of people living in Belfast, Ireland.<\/p>\n

This is nothing but strategic marketing.<\/p>\n

The film is significantly better than the trailer suggests, offering a dark and raw exploration of a family torn between their current lives in Belfast and the opportunity to leave the troubled city for new prospects in England.<\/p>\n

However, it’s not all doom and gloom, and in fact, Belfast offers enough humor, entertainment, and drama to please a broad audience. There also exists a lesson in kindness, decency, and respect that is so needed in the world today.<\/p>\n

Belfast is a movie rich in real-life experiences from director Kenneth Branagh’s own life, which successfully lends realism and honesty to the picture.<\/p>\n

The film is told through the eyes of a nine-year-old boy named Buddy, wonderfully played by Jude Hill. He struggles to forge a path from childhood to manhood in a world that has been turned upside down.<\/p>\n

It is 1969, and battles over religion have overtaken his neighborhood with radical Protestants wanting the Catholics out.<\/p>\n

Buddy experiences the joys and sorrows of young love, loss, joy, laughter, music, and the magic of the cinema.<\/p>\n

His family surrounds him- Ma (Caitr\u00edona Balfe), Pa (Jamie Dornan), Granny (Judi Dench), Pop (Ciar\u00e1n Hinds), and a brother. They each fill Buddy’s life with kindness and fun.<\/p>\n

The film starts slowly for me, despite an immediate, wonderfully compelling slow-motion sequence in which Buddy is surrounded by violence and terror as he walks home from school on a pleasant afternoon.<\/p>\n

As I ponder Belfast, I realize that much of the film is slow, yet rich in texture and goodness. Every so often, an emotional scene erupts, but then a great deal of it is Buddy’s everyday experiences.<\/p>\n

The black and white cinematography is crucial in portraying the bleakness of Belfast and how its residents strive to add some life. Most are born and die where they live.<\/p>\n

Branagh adds an occasional glimpse of color, which is effective to show a burst of delight in the characters’ lives. This is most powerful when the family goes to the cinema and enjoys an afternoon watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.<\/p>\n

The lighting and extreme close-ups of some characters’ faces reveal their emotions, while the landscape shots are appropriately smoky and bright. This fits the mood perfectly.<\/p>\n

The film features music by Belfast native\u00a0Van Morrison, including eight classic songs and a new song Morrison wrote for the film.<\/p>\n

The acting is superb by all the principal cast, and Dornan and Balfe provide the emotional core. Both actors are beautiful, and their performance of ‘Everlasting Love’ is simply delightful.<\/p>\n

Providing proper role models for their children, Dornan’s Pa nearly had me in tears when he told Buddy that a person’s religious beliefs are unimportant, but their kindness is what truly matters.<\/p>\n

He is a progressive man trapped in a traditional world.<\/p>\n

In the end, the family chooses to reach for the stars, and the moment is fulfilling for both the characters and the viewers.<\/p>\n

Belfast (2021) did not completely win me over until it ended, when I realized that I had witnessed a superior film. Branagh fuses heart and decency into a tale of a family’s struggles and trials.<\/p>\n

It’s a message film that doesn’t scream or preach that message, but instead gives a quiet lesson in humanity.<\/p>\n

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-<\/strong>Best Picture, Best Director-Kenneth Branagh, Best Supporting Actor-Ciar\u00e1n Hinds, Best Supporting Actress-Judi Dench, Best Original Screenplay (won)<\/strong>, Best Original Score-“Down to Joy”, Best Sound<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Belfast-2021 Director Kenneth Branagh Starring Jamie Dornan, Caitr\u00edona Balfe, Jude Hill Scott’s Review #1,202 Reviewed November 28, 2021 Grade: A- Belfast (2021) is a film I wanted to see based solely on the year-end awards buzz it is receiving as of this writing. The trailer would lead you to believe that the film is a … Continue reading Belfast-2021<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[408,8302,8303,192,5740,8300,685,2904],"tags":[409,8304,8305,193,5743,8301,690,2910],"class_list":["post-15135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2021-movie-reviews","category-caitriona-balfe","category-ciaran-hinds","category-dramas","category-jamie-dornan","category-jude-hill","category-judi-dench","category-kenneth-branagh","tag-2021-movie-reviews","tag-caitriona-balfe","tag-ciaran-hinds","tag-dramas-2","tag-jamie-dornan","tag-jude-hill","tag-judi-dench","tag-kenneth-branagh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15135"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22118,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15135\/revisions\/22118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}