Belfast(2021)

I wanted to like this more than I did. It's fine, but it just doesn't resonate terribly well with me. Not to mention it feels a bit like a stage-play, taking place all on one street. I understand it's supposed to be the world through a child's eyes, but there's not much there. Conversations and issues feel breezed through, and yet 'Belfast' sags in the middle around the third time they have the same set of…

Reviewed on January 7, 2022

A swell little film, this. I may not have a connection to the events portrayed onscreen, but <em>'Belfast'</em> is - despite the not so good true events that it's retelling - is a pleasant film to watch. With a perfectly timed length of around 90 minutes, this 2021 flick holds a lot of heart - it's also rather funny, it had me laughing a fair number of times. The star of the film is undoubtedly youngster Jude Hill,…

Reviewed on February 10, 2022

Belfast is packed with powerful images — shot in Haris Zambarloukos’s majestic black-and-white cinematography (except for a handful of color shots at key moments, notably the escapist windows that film and TV offer the characters) — beginning with an early scene in which the young protagonist, Buddy (Jude Hill), armed with a wooden sword and a shield/dumpster lid, confronts a mob of unionist protestants who come to…

Reviewed on August 27, 2022

This is the kind of cinema that we always hope to see - brilliantly fresh, tight script, beautifully shot, amazing performances, an autobiographical-based story of the directory himself, Sir Kenneth Branagh, and ... Van Morrison soundtrack. In essence, it's a coming-of-age movie of an adolescent, set against "The Troubles" of Northern Ireland. Buddy has a special love for movies and theater, encouraged by his…

Reviewed on September 23, 2022