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LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Belfast (2021) in Movies
Jan 14, 2022
In short, Belfast is a very human and truly wonderful piece of cinema.
It's visual style is both stunning and simple, and is brimming with plenty of striking imagery.
It's themes are rich. The setting explores the civil unrest between Protestants and Catholics in 1960s Belfast. This turbulent moment in time is a constant presence for sure, but the main bulk of the narrative deals with a working class family who are struggling with debt, and are looking to potentially relocate to England in light of the city wide violence. The very heart of the story though is found in Buddy, the young son of the family who is dealing with growing up and not wanting to leave. Buddy's actor, Jude Hill, is excellent. He embodies innocent childhood and the adventure that comes with it. He's an 11 year old actor, holding his own against screen veterans such as Ciarán Hinds and Judi Dench (both fantastic as always).
Other than Buddy, most of the heavy lifting is undertaken by the mother, played by Caitriona Balfe, who really deserves an Academy Nomination for her role here. Jamie Dornan also stars, who proved to be a pleasant surprise for me, only knowing him from the obvious, and is a welcome addition to an all round stellar cast. Throughout this, the narrative touches upon loss and loneliness, and the moments of life that manage to be bittersweet.
Belfast is a sometimes heartwarming, powerful, occasionally funny, and often melancholy tale told with a lot of love and care. Kenneth Branagh has delivered a slice of cinematic gold.
It's visual style is both stunning and simple, and is brimming with plenty of striking imagery.
It's themes are rich. The setting explores the civil unrest between Protestants and Catholics in 1960s Belfast. This turbulent moment in time is a constant presence for sure, but the main bulk of the narrative deals with a working class family who are struggling with debt, and are looking to potentially relocate to England in light of the city wide violence. The very heart of the story though is found in Buddy, the young son of the family who is dealing with growing up and not wanting to leave. Buddy's actor, Jude Hill, is excellent. He embodies innocent childhood and the adventure that comes with it. He's an 11 year old actor, holding his own against screen veterans such as Ciarán Hinds and Judi Dench (both fantastic as always).
Other than Buddy, most of the heavy lifting is undertaken by the mother, played by Caitriona Balfe, who really deserves an Academy Nomination for her role here. Jamie Dornan also stars, who proved to be a pleasant surprise for me, only knowing him from the obvious, and is a welcome addition to an all round stellar cast. Throughout this, the narrative touches upon loss and loneliness, and the moments of life that manage to be bittersweet.
Belfast is a sometimes heartwarming, powerful, occasionally funny, and often melancholy tale told with a lot of love and care. Kenneth Branagh has delivered a slice of cinematic gold.
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Belfast (2021) in Movies
Nov 21, 2021
Underwhelming
The trouble with hearing that a film is a “shoo-in” Oscar film is that I go in with expectations and, sometimes, there is no way the film can live up to the expectations that I have for it.
Such is the case with the new film Written and Directed by Kenneth Branagh, his personal remembrance BELFAST.
Professionally made, with a strong cast and some decent dialogue, BELFAST tells the tale of a young boy growing up in Ireland when “the troubles” (the Irish Civil War between Protestants and Catholics of the late 1960’s) erupts and the family must turn against friends and neighbors and make the difficult decision as to what side of the conflict they should be one - and whether they should stay in Ireland or move to England.
We see this world through the eyes of 9 year old Buddy (Jude Hill). Consequently, we only gets bit and pieces of the story as he starts to understand what is going on. And that is part of the problem with this film. We receive the information in bits and pieces on the level of a child. And the premise just doesn’t work, for his parents and grandparents constantly attempt to shield the child from the goings-on in the world (and thus shield the audience).
Branagh’s script is underwritten and slight - but he turns it over to some tremendous performers who elevate it to something better than it is.
Veteran actors Dame Judi Dench and Ciaran Hinds are fine comic relief in this film as the Grandparents who are wise and seeing that the world that they once knew is changing. These two aging thespians bring a spark to this film, for it is pretty limp otherwise.
The conflict between Pa (Jamie Doran - 50 SHADES OF GREY) and Ma (Citrione Balfe - OUTLANDER) over the families’ reaction to the events outside of their home never really crescendoes with any power. Again, I blame the writing. The conflict between these two is just not interesting enough. So, if I don’t blame the writing, I’ll blame the Directing - which is also by Branagh.
Balfe is being touted as a Best Actress Oscar contender, and I can see how she might get one, as she does have “the Oscar Speech”, but there is not much more to recommend here.
This film is professionally done and acted well enough - there just needed to be more “there” there.
Letter Grade B-
6 Stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Such is the case with the new film Written and Directed by Kenneth Branagh, his personal remembrance BELFAST.
Professionally made, with a strong cast and some decent dialogue, BELFAST tells the tale of a young boy growing up in Ireland when “the troubles” (the Irish Civil War between Protestants and Catholics of the late 1960’s) erupts and the family must turn against friends and neighbors and make the difficult decision as to what side of the conflict they should be one - and whether they should stay in Ireland or move to England.
We see this world through the eyes of 9 year old Buddy (Jude Hill). Consequently, we only gets bit and pieces of the story as he starts to understand what is going on. And that is part of the problem with this film. We receive the information in bits and pieces on the level of a child. And the premise just doesn’t work, for his parents and grandparents constantly attempt to shield the child from the goings-on in the world (and thus shield the audience).
Branagh’s script is underwritten and slight - but he turns it over to some tremendous performers who elevate it to something better than it is.
Veteran actors Dame Judi Dench and Ciaran Hinds are fine comic relief in this film as the Grandparents who are wise and seeing that the world that they once knew is changing. These two aging thespians bring a spark to this film, for it is pretty limp otherwise.
The conflict between Pa (Jamie Doran - 50 SHADES OF GREY) and Ma (Citrione Balfe - OUTLANDER) over the families’ reaction to the events outside of their home never really crescendoes with any power. Again, I blame the writing. The conflict between these two is just not interesting enough. So, if I don’t blame the writing, I’ll blame the Directing - which is also by Branagh.
Balfe is being touted as a Best Actress Oscar contender, and I can see how she might get one, as she does have “the Oscar Speech”, but there is not much more to recommend here.
This film is professionally done and acted well enough - there just needed to be more “there” there.
Letter Grade B-
6 Stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Hadley (567 KP) rated Heart-Shaped Box in Books
Jun 18, 2019
Unlikable characters (1 more)
Parts that weren't needed
Which one of us hasn't imagined being a successful rock star? The main character of this novel is an aging one, who has become the stereo-typical hard-ass that is expected of a death metal rock star. We begin with Judas Coyne, who hasn't made an album in years, and who is constantly running from his past- - -a habit he acquired when he ran away from home in Louisiana at the age of 19, and this is the problem that permeates Hill's 'Heart-Shaped Box.'
'Heart-Shaped Box' does a successful job of not only painting a picture of ghosts, but also of the spirits that reside in animals (like a witch's familiar), but the likable characters in this book are few and far between. Coyne treats women as objects(he literally only calls them by the State name they are from,such as Florida), and also ended his own marriage by refusing to throw away a snuff film he had obtained from a police. When the story begins, Coyne is shacked up with a young woman (nearly 30 years younger) he calls Georgia; she is described as a stereo-typical goth: black hair, black nail polish, pale white skin. This description of the women Coyne has been with seem to be about the same, but maybe a different hair color, but any other woman that is ever mentioned in the book is either very old or very overweight.
Coyne, a collector of all things dark, buys a dead man's suit that is supposedly haunted by a woman's deceased stepfather. Quite quickly things begin to happen after the suit arrives, including a decaying smell, first noticed by Coyne's 'girlfriend,' Georgia: " I know. I was wondering if there was something in one of the pockets. Something going bad. Old food." She makes Coyne take a look at the suit to see if there is something dead inside of it, but he never finds the source of the smell. Instead, he finds a picture of a young girl in one of the pockets, a girl that is very familiar to Coyne, a girl he once called 'Florida.'
Coyne doesn't seem to take any of the signs seriously that he may be haunted by a ghost that wants to harm him and anyone who comes in contact with him. Until Coyne finds himself sitting inside his restored vintage Mustang in a closed-off barn: " He snorted softly to himself. It wasn't selling souls that got you into trouble, it was buying them. Next time he would have to make sure there was a return policy. He laughed, opened his eyes a little. The dead man, Craddock, sat in the passenger seat next to him. He smiled at Jude, to show stained teeth and a black tongue. He smelled of death, also of car exhaust. His eyes were hidden behind those odd, continuously moving black brushstrokes."
Craddock turns out to be, without giving too much away, a man who was a spiritualist in his living life. He wants nothing but pain and misery for Coyne, who happened to kick his young step daughter to the curb a year before. The parts of the story that deal with both Coyne and Craddock interacting are the most interesting ones. Without these interactions, the story would have fallen very short.
That said, 'Heart-Shaped Box' had quite a few faults to it. Readers may notice that some pages contradict themselves on the very next page, Hill's overuse of Georgia's bangs (hair) as a description for all of her facial expressions, also Hill's habit of being repetitive with words that he uses to describe most things, the unbelievable part where Coyne- - - a collector of occult items- - - claims he has never used a Ouija board before (and lacks the knowledge of how to use one), and last but not least, chapter 34, a chapter that was not needed and completely stopped the story in it's tracks.
And speaking of things that were not needed in the story- - - a part where Georgia has a gun in her mouth, ready to commit suicide, Coyne can only think to remove the gun and replace it with his penis. I understand that Hill may have been going for unlikable characters from the beginning, to really have Coyne play the part of a jaded man, but sometimes Hill seems to go too far. Every book has to have a character to root for, otherwise your readers will put the book down, luckily, this book has Bammy; she is Georgia's grandmother, unfortunately, in less than 15 pages, she never appears in the story again. "You strung out? Christ. You smell like a dog." Bammy says to Georgia after she and Coyne show up at her home.
Is this book a good ghost story, yes, is this story a great horror story, no. Hill lacks on likable characters enough that I don't think a lot of people could enjoy this book. If I were to recommend it, I wouldn't recommend it to teenagers because of a much talked about snuff film, drugs and suicide. I don't think I would read this again.
'Heart-Shaped Box' does a successful job of not only painting a picture of ghosts, but also of the spirits that reside in animals (like a witch's familiar), but the likable characters in this book are few and far between. Coyne treats women as objects(he literally only calls them by the State name they are from,such as Florida), and also ended his own marriage by refusing to throw away a snuff film he had obtained from a police. When the story begins, Coyne is shacked up with a young woman (nearly 30 years younger) he calls Georgia; she is described as a stereo-typical goth: black hair, black nail polish, pale white skin. This description of the women Coyne has been with seem to be about the same, but maybe a different hair color, but any other woman that is ever mentioned in the book is either very old or very overweight.
Coyne, a collector of all things dark, buys a dead man's suit that is supposedly haunted by a woman's deceased stepfather. Quite quickly things begin to happen after the suit arrives, including a decaying smell, first noticed by Coyne's 'girlfriend,' Georgia: " I know. I was wondering if there was something in one of the pockets. Something going bad. Old food." She makes Coyne take a look at the suit to see if there is something dead inside of it, but he never finds the source of the smell. Instead, he finds a picture of a young girl in one of the pockets, a girl that is very familiar to Coyne, a girl he once called 'Florida.'
Coyne doesn't seem to take any of the signs seriously that he may be haunted by a ghost that wants to harm him and anyone who comes in contact with him. Until Coyne finds himself sitting inside his restored vintage Mustang in a closed-off barn: " He snorted softly to himself. It wasn't selling souls that got you into trouble, it was buying them. Next time he would have to make sure there was a return policy. He laughed, opened his eyes a little. The dead man, Craddock, sat in the passenger seat next to him. He smiled at Jude, to show stained teeth and a black tongue. He smelled of death, also of car exhaust. His eyes were hidden behind those odd, continuously moving black brushstrokes."
Craddock turns out to be, without giving too much away, a man who was a spiritualist in his living life. He wants nothing but pain and misery for Coyne, who happened to kick his young step daughter to the curb a year before. The parts of the story that deal with both Coyne and Craddock interacting are the most interesting ones. Without these interactions, the story would have fallen very short.
That said, 'Heart-Shaped Box' had quite a few faults to it. Readers may notice that some pages contradict themselves on the very next page, Hill's overuse of Georgia's bangs (hair) as a description for all of her facial expressions, also Hill's habit of being repetitive with words that he uses to describe most things, the unbelievable part where Coyne- - - a collector of occult items- - - claims he has never used a Ouija board before (and lacks the knowledge of how to use one), and last but not least, chapter 34, a chapter that was not needed and completely stopped the story in it's tracks.
And speaking of things that were not needed in the story- - - a part where Georgia has a gun in her mouth, ready to commit suicide, Coyne can only think to remove the gun and replace it with his penis. I understand that Hill may have been going for unlikable characters from the beginning, to really have Coyne play the part of a jaded man, but sometimes Hill seems to go too far. Every book has to have a character to root for, otherwise your readers will put the book down, luckily, this book has Bammy; she is Georgia's grandmother, unfortunately, in less than 15 pages, she never appears in the story again. "You strung out? Christ. You smell like a dog." Bammy says to Georgia after she and Coyne show up at her home.
Is this book a good ghost story, yes, is this story a great horror story, no. Hill lacks on likable characters enough that I don't think a lot of people could enjoy this book. If I were to recommend it, I wouldn't recommend it to teenagers because of a much talked about snuff film, drugs and suicide. I don't think I would read this again.