Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast tells the story of a boy growing up in the eponymous Irish city during a time of conflict. Heavily based on Branagh’s own childhood, the film chronicles the tensions growing between the Protestants and Catholics in the streets of this young boy’s neighborhood. Despite the heavy subject matter, Belfast does little to convey the weight of the circumstances and results in an unmoving, inconsequential, and unaffecting story.
The main issue with the film is a result of Branagh’s preoccupation with childhood nostalgia, which undermines its historical significance. He has an incessant need to aestheticize everything, so each shot is hyper-manufactured and technically perfect, but lacks body and meaning in the context of the story. The digital cinematography reads as inauthentic and annoyingly flawless because it does not deepen the story, it only provides romantic visuals for Branagh’s memories.
This nostalgia also results in the story having incredibly low stakes. Belfast is told from a child’s perspective and the conflict is spelled out in a painfully simplistic manner. In other films that depict a child in an environment of turmoil, the narrative usually results in this child’s reckoning of what’s happening around them and how their evolving maturity shapes their understanding of the conflict (e.g. Jojo Rabbit). Belfast never allows the main character to come to terms with his circumstances - his views on the matter remain unchanged. In fact, almost everyone’s views on every matter remain unchanged; none of the characters seem to have a substantial arc of any kind. The acting is innocuous, but it feels like everyone is holding back because of poor character writing. The film features several widely beloved actors whose skills are ultimately wasted because their characters are so shallow. Once the credits roll, it’s hard to feel satisfied because nothing has really happened - there’s no character evolution, and the people barely feel human. All of the situations in the film remain the same from beginning to end.
Additionally, though it is set in the epicenter of a significant historical event, the movie does little to highlight the importance of this time period in Belfast. For the mostly uninitiated, like myself, we watch and learn absolutely nothing of value about this history. Each dramatic climax is treated with such brevity and vapidness that it seems irrelevant. The entire movie is scored with Van Morrison songs, meaning that every single emotional moment is saturated with a corny, dated feeling at which one can’t help but roll one’s eyes.
There’s nothing wrong with embarking on creating a personal passion project, but the audience can’t be expected to actively engage with a piece of art when its only purpose seems to be retrospectively romanticizing the creator’s life. Belfast is far from terrible, but seems so insignificant and forgettable that I would be shocked if it made any lasting impact of any kind.
Belfast was released on November 12, 2021 and is now streaming on demand.
Put that on your clipboard!