Cinema: ‘Belfast’ The Definition of Home for Many

What is home? This question is at the very center of the story in the film Belfast and it is brilliantly answered in many different ways. How the film tells this story is what elevates it to a place of pure enjoyability and shared nostalgia on growing up. There are a few nitpickings that could be made about the music choices, but what always stands out is the directorial style of Kenneth Branagh. What makes the film rise above in comparison to other films about growing up is in how well the narrative is structured. Each character is given a small but perfect arc and these characters come together to show the city of Belfast as a place, a period of time and a home.

Belfast is a mostly black-and-white film about how a Protestant Irish family reacts to the start of ‘The Troubles’ on August 15, 1969 where Protestant loyalists began to riot in the streets and attack Catholic homes and people that lived in Belfast, Ireland. Everything is seen from the perspective of Buddy (Jude Hill), a young boy who witnesses the riots and watches how the tumultuous period in Belfast affects his friends and family. Buddy has a wide support system including his Brother Will (Lewis McAskie), his mother Ma (Caitriona Balfe), his father Pa (Jamie Dornan), his grandmother Granny (Judi Dench) and his grandfather Pop (Ciarán Hinds). When Pa gets offered a raise at his company in London, the family must make a choice; stay in Belfast or leave. The film is semi-autobiographical and is written and directed by Kenneth Branagh. He is most well-known for his Shakespeare film adaptions of Hamlet, Henry V and Much Ado About Nothing for which he starred, directed and wrote the screenplays for. With Shakespeare in his background, that influence shows directly in his original work.

Branagh is an actor’s director. What that means is that, because of his classical acting training, he believes in the power of the actor over the visuals of a camera. This also means that he takes an actor’s approach to writing and directing. An example of this is how each character is given a short but dramatic monologue that is well written. During these monologues, the camera does not cut away from that actor’s face for at least one to two minutes. Branagh wants the audience to pay attention not only to what the actor is saying, but to notice and appreciate how they are performing their lines. Another example that comes up is during certain scenes, he holds the camera on Buddy’s face while other people are talking to him off camera. The camera captures Buddy listening to what other people have to say, again focusing on the actor acting. Whether or not this is a good thing is completely up to the audience, but it is important to bring up because it is at the creative center of the film. While the visuals work very well, the music tries to uplift these images and simply fails.

The soundtrack is filled with popular music by Van Morrison, a terrific musician on his own. The obvious reason for having Van Morrison on the soundtrack is that he is also from Belfast, Ireland like Branagh. A lot of the songs came out in the early 70’s, which could be argued that it is close enough to the time period that it fits to what people would listen to. However, his music just does not fit. His distinctive voice, lyrics and instrumentation stand very well on their own and because they stand so well on their own, they stand right out in the film and distract from what is happening on screen. Everything turns into a black-and-white Van Morrison music video. The music may not work, but it thankfully does not hurt the visual flair of Branagh at the creative center, which is only uplifted by the well written narrative.

With Branagh’s Shakespearean background, he certainly knows how to properly structure a plot and write good characters. Every single character has a small arc where they are introduced, they must make a difficult decision, they make a choice and that choice creates character growth. There are small side plots such as Buddy’s attempt to steal candy from a store and a crush that Buddy has on the smart girl in his math class, but each side plot has the same arc with a beginning, a middle and an end. Nothing is left unsaid and everything wraps up perfectly, with no extra weight in the script. This leads to the heart of the film.

The creative center of the film is the acting, but the heart of the film is about childhood and the sense of what home is to a young boy and his family. The main perspective being from Buddy’s point of view during this tumultuous period of his life allows the audience to experience this time as he does. As a Protestant child, Buddy is confused on how he should feel about Catholics and other Protestants outside his family. The idea of picking sides comes up a lot and confuses his young mind. In the end no side is ever picked, but there is a message left on how violent conflict affects a young child. The topic of home is also at the heart of the film and that is shown in how the family must decide on whether they should move to London or stay in Belfast. Every single character ruminates in different ways on what Belfast means to them. The end result is a multifaceted idea of, not just what Belfast is as a place, but what it means to have a stable home and how hard it is to potentially give that up. A decision is made, but not with great consideration on a young boy’s stability in life.

Branagh has created a wonderful film that places an emphasis on the actor’s performance with a well thought out and near perfectly structured script, albeit with an unsuited soundtrack. The film introduces side plots that always come back to the heart of the film; what is home? A community, a place where family lives close by and where everyone knows each other by name. No matter how dangerous it gets, it still feels safe. Most of all, home is a place that can always be brought back up in memory. The place may change or it may never change, but that memory of what it was will always remain the same. This memory of home in Belfast does not belong just to Branagh. The dedication at the end of the film makes it very clear that all of these things don’t just make a home, but they define what Belfast is for Branagh and for everyone that has ever or will ever live in Belfast, Ireland.