Belfast

• Directed by Kenneth Branagh from his own screen play
• Starring
  • Catriona Balfe
  • Jamie Dornan
  • Jude Hill
  • Judi Dench
  • Ciaran Hinds

I’d really wanted to see this film, but on its release, I don’t know why, I resisted going to it. Having finally made the plunge, I’ve got to tell you I was very disappointed. Perhaps my instincts were right.

We all know, it’s the story of Brannagh’s childhood in Belfast in the late 1960s at the beginning of what, has always been referred to ‘as the troubles’, and the family’s subsequent, moving away from Ireland to Britain. Brannagh, who, one would think, would be striving for realism, gives us instead, a stylised Germanic 1920s style of cinema, in a very bright black and white.

I thought it would be a film seen through the eyes of the young boy, but if this is his intention, it fails.

The street where they live, looks like a stage set and the props necessary for the settings seemed to be deliberately placed to show this neo-realistic expressionism. He also uses strange angles and pocus-pulls which set everything at odds with the action. If this is his intention then he has succeeded, but it doesn’t work for me.

The rioting and looting of the stores have a similar unreal quality, none of which makes us feel any sympathy for the characters. In fact, none of these action scenes ring true.

Unreal! And not in a good way!!

The family life is also distant, rather than being seen through the eyes of the boy, I felt we were observing it from the other side of the road, as if we were peeking through their windows.

A cinematographer decided putting blurry grass in the foreground was a good decision.

There are games in the street, childhood romance in the classroom, visits to the cinema, bus rides, all the conventional things, but you never feel that these people are real or that they relate to each other. The father and the mother clash a lot. The grandparents live with them, and this helps keep the boy’s spirits up.

The casting is typical Brannagh. He uses several of his stock players to good effect. Michael Maloney is in there and I also caught a glimpse for a second of John Sessions, a stalwart of Brannagh’s films. I was saddened to see in the final credits that Sessions has passed away and there was a dedication to him on the screen. I think I spied Colin [Merlin] Morgan behind some facial hair, and, of course, we had Judi Dench [more of that later].

It is a pleasure to see Catriona Balfe in a role away from ‘Outlander’. As the mother, she does what she has to do, to the best of her ability. Jamie Dornan is the father. I’ve never been a fan of this actor and this performance doesn’t change my view. I suggest you steer clear of his current offering on Stan – ‘The Tourist’. Jude Hill has been praised by many for his performance of the young Brannagh, I’m afraid, I wasn’t carried away by it. Perhaps the script didn’t really extend him. For the record, I didn’t believe any of them.

The most successful actor is Ciaran Hinds, as the grandfather, he is very solid and believable.

The dialect in many cases is too thick for my ears to comprehend. The director could have cut back on this. Of course, if you’ve come from that district, you’d understand everything, but you must think of your wider audience. If we can’t understand the dialogue, we may as well not be in the cinema.

I know I’ll get into trouble for this, but does Judi Dench have to be in everything? Here she plays the grandmother and it’s one of her stock performances. She can trot them out without even going on set, she could just mail it in. I know Brannagh has used her in many films and they are obviously very close, but, perhaps another actress could have played this one. You see, I’m very old and grumpy and I can remember, the sixties in Melbourne when a young Judi Dench came to town, to play our theatres. We, in the theatre, were very excited, and after our show we’d say, which party will Judi be at? And we’d go to each of the parties until we found Judi. We’d grab a drink and then sit on the floor at her feet, and she’d talk to us for hours. Sometimes, she would sing in her throaty voice. Remembering, that soon after this she created Sally Bowles in ‘Cabaret’ in London. Sorry, I’m just being my grumpy self.

The Dame reminisces about after-parties with the Grumpy Old Man

Which leaves me with Kenneth. Don’t get me wrong. I love him as a performer and a director. I’ve had the privilege of seeing him in one of his classic roles on the London stage.

I yearn for another ‘Henry V’ film. Who could forget the long tracking shot where he carried the body of Christian Bale from the battlefield? And please compare the boy’s performance in ‘Belfast’ to that of Christian Bale in Spielberg’s ‘Empire of the Sun’. Now that was a performance by a juvenile. Or please see his film of the complete text of ‘Hamlet’. More importantly for lovers of acting, catch Kenneth Brannagh’s performance as Iago in Oliver Parker’s ‘Othello’ This is an acting workshop. This is an actor interpreting his character to tremendous effect. Something rarely seen on the screen. He revolutionizes the play.

Oh dear, I think I’ve rambled on too long.

To sum up a complete let down.

Star Rating: 2/5 [I’d hoped for so much more] [I’d hoped for so much more]