Belfast

I guess I am quite in awe of the fact that Kenneth Branagh not only made adaptations of Agatha Christie’s works such as ‘Death on the Nile’, ‘Haunting in Venice’, and ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ in the past few years, but also successfully created ‘Belfast’.

Belfast is a semi-autobiographical piece that bears traces of Branagh’s childhood in Northern Ireland during the tumultuous late 1960s. And apparently, I love it when it gets personal. Watching it felt akin to leafing through an old family album, each black and white photograph brimming with candid, unspoken stories.

Actually, I brought up his commercial work earlier for a good reason. In his interview with Deadline, Branagh stated, ‘For me, the heart of it was the personal subject matter. But the actual making of it, the mechanics of it, were more a synthesis of the many different kinds of influences that I’m subject to as a filmmaker. When I’m looking at a piece like the riot scene at the beginning of Belfast, or the looting scene later on, I find I’m bringing moments from directing Thor, or directing something like Jack Ryan.’ This perspective reminds me that working on commercial projects is not just a means of earning money or reputation, but also an opportunity to hone one’s craft. This mastery later provides the ability to tell personal stories in a more empowered way. When someone authentically tells their personal stories while adhering to industry standards, they earn my utmost respect.

Anyway, Belfast truly captivated me with its heartfelt narrative and meticulously crafted structure. Since it rightfully received an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay among many other awards in 2022, I won’t say more about the script. But I just have to say I also fell in love with its witty and clever dialogue. This particular bit stuck with me:

• How could I leave Belfast?
• I wouldn’t worry about it. The Irish were born for leaving. Otherwise the rest of the world would have no pubs.

And last but not least, Jamie Dornan as a clean-cut, family man? Oh God, please have some mercy on us! We have enough delusions already. 🙂

For those interested, here’s the shooting script of ‘Belfast’, if you’d like to see how it’s structured on the page. https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Belfast-Read-The-Screenplay_Redacted.pdf