Belfast (film)

Belfast is a 2021 British coming of age comedy-drama film written and directed by Kenneth Branagh. The film stars Caitríona Balfe, Judi Dench, Jamie Dornan, Ciarán Hinds, Colin Morgan, and newcomer Jude Hill. The film, which Branagh has described as his "most personal film", centres on a young boy's childhood in Belfast, Northern Ireland at the beginning of The Troubles in 1969.
Belfast had its world premiere at the 48th Telluride Film Festival on 2 September 2021; shortly thereafter, it won the People's Choice Award at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. The film was released in the United States on 12 November 2021 by Focus Features, and in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 21 January 2022, by Universal Pictures. It received positive reviews from critics, who praised Branagh's direction and screenplay, cinematography and the performances of the cast (particularly Balfe, Dench, Dornan and Hinds). The film has grossed $21.4 million worldwide.
The film received seven nominations at the 94th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and was named one of the best films of 2021 by the National Board of Review. It tied with The Power of the Dog for a leading seven nominations at the 79th Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture – Drama; the film won a Golden Globe for Best Screenplay. It also tied with West Side Story for a leading eleven nominations at the 27th Critics' Choice Awards, including Best Picture, and also received six nominations at the 75th British Academy Film Awards.
==Plot==
The film chronicles the life of a working-class Ulster Protestant family from the perspective of their 9-year-old son Buddy during The Troubles in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Buddy's father Pa works overseas in England, while the family—Ma, elder brother Will, and paternal grandparents Granny and Pop—live in Belfast.
During the August 1969 riots, a group of Protestant loyalists attack the homes and businesses of Catholics on Buddy's street. The people set up a barricade on the street to prevent their return and Pa returns home from England to check up on the family’s wellbeing. The family attends church, where the minister delivers a harsh fork in the road speech; the rhetoric is continually reflected upon by Buddy throughout the film. Buddy develops feelings for a fellow high-achieving Catholic classmate, Catherine, and they eventually become friends.
Local criminal and sectarian rabble-rouser Billy Clanton approaches Pa demanding his involvement in "the cause"; when Pa refuses, he becomes aggressive and continues to incessantly approach Buddy. Meanwhile, the family struggles to pay off their accumulated debts. Pa dreams of emigrating to Sydney or Vancouver, a prospect met with distress from Ma. However, she can no longer deny the option of leaving Belfast as the conflict worsens and Pa is offered a promotion and housing deal in England from his employers. They attempt to discuss the matter with the boys, but Buddy breaks down at the thought of leaving.
Buddy and local girl Moira attempt to steal chocolates from a sweet shop, but the plan goes awry. When later questioned by the police, Buddy does not reveal his co-conspirators. Following this, Moira recruits Buddy into her local gang, who participate in a looting of a supermarket. A reluctant Buddy is coerced into stealing a box of laundry detergent before he returns home and informs Ma of his activities. Ma berates him and drags both Buddy and Moira back to the ongoing looting in order to return their stolen items. Billy then appears and takes them hostage as leverage for his own escape. Pa, Will and the British Army arrive at the scene to end the riot. This initiates a standoff with Billy who attempts a shootout until Pa and Will manage to disarm him. Billy is then promptly arrested and swears retribution.
Realising that they are no longer safe in Belfast, the family decide to leave for England. Before departing, Buddy bids farewell to Catherine. He later laments whether he could have pursued a future with her despite the fact she was a Catholic. Pa responds that it shouldn’t make any difference and, as Granny watches, the family boards a bus headed for the airport. The film ends with Granny being left alone after the death of her husband and the departure of her children and grandchildren.
==Cast==
* Jude Hill as Buddy
* Caitríona Balfe as "Ma", Buddy's mother
* Jamie Dornan as "Pa", Buddy's father
* Judi Dench as "Granny", Buddy's grandmother
* Ciarán Hinds as "Pop", Buddy's grandfather
* Lewis McAskie as Will, Buddy's older brother
* Colin Morgan as Billy Clanton
* Lara McDonnell as Moira
* Gerard Horan as Mackie
* Drew Dillon as Mr Kavanagh
* Conor MacNeill as McLaury
* Turlough Convery as Minister
* Gerard McCarthy as Bobby Frank
* Olive Tennant as Catherine
* Victor Alli as Soldier
* Josie Walker as Aunt Violet
* Vanessa Ifediora as Miss Lewis
* John Sessions as Joseph Tomelty playing Jacob Marley
==Production==
Kenneth Branagh started working on the film in March 2020. In July 2020, Branagh announced that he would write and direct the film. In September 2020, Judi Dench, Caitríona Balfe, Jamie Dornan, Ciarán Hinds and Jude Hill joined the cast of the film.
Principal photography began in September 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming initially took place in and around London, before moving to Belfast. The entire film was shot in seven weeks. Production concluded by October 2020. The film was shot in black and white.
The film features music by Belfast native Van Morrison, including eight classic songs and a new song Morrison wrote for the film.
==Release==
Belfast had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on 2 September 2021 where it became the festival's most often-screened film of that year. It also screened at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival on 12 September 2021, where it won the People's Choice Award. By the end of its run, it will have screened at film festivals in Chicago, Hamburg, London, Middleburg, Mill Valley, Philadelphia, San Diego and Vancouver. It held its Los Angeles premiere at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on 8 November 2021. The film was released on 12 November 2021 through Focus Features in the United States, and on 21 January 2022 in Ireland and the United Kingdom through Universal Pictures.
==Reception==
=== Box office ===
, Belfast has grossed $7.5million in the United States and Canada, and $14million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $21.6million.
In the United States and Canada, Belfast was projected to gross around $1 million from 588 cinemas in its opening weekend. It went on to debut to $1.8 million, finishing eighth at the box office. It averaged $3,111 per-venue, one of the best of figures of 2021 for an indie total; 73% of the audience was over 35. In its second weekend the film fell 47% to $940,000. The film made $1.3 million over the five-day Thanksgiving frame, including $958,770 in its third weekend, finishing eleventh. In its twelfth weekend, the film had an expansion to 200 theaters, grossing an estimated $120,000.
The film had a strong debut in the United Kingdom and Ireland with $3.1 million in its opening weekend. In the weekend after earning six BAFTA nominations, the film grossed $3.23 million from seven markets.
=== Critical response ===
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 87% based on 280 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "A deeply personal project for writer-director Kenneth Branagh, Belfast transcends its narrative deficits with powerful performances and directorial craft." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 52 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, while 79% of filmgoers at PostTrak said they would definitely recommend it.
Reviewing the film, Kevin Maher of The Times gave it 5/5 stars and wrote: "It's a film of formal beauty, letter-perfect performances, complex and textured writing (also from Branagh) and enough comedic one-lines and Van Morrison musical montages to make you forget that you are watching a drama about seething sectarian hatreds". Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian also gave the film 5/5 stars and addressed it as "a seductive piece of myth-making from Branagh". Writing for TheWrap, Steve Pond praised the performances of Dornan and Balfe, and said: "The film feels true in the way it must be exploring Branagh's memories of a tumultuous and confusing time, and the way it pays tribute to a vibrant community as that community is irrevocably changed." Stephanie Zacharek of Time said that it was hard to resist the film's affectionate energy. Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly said that "Branagh's genuine affection and nostalgia for his subject suffuse the movie; if only the misty romanticism of his story could match it" and gave the film a "B–" score.
David Ehrlich of IndieWire, who gave the film a "C" grade, wrote: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, and this scattershot crowd-pleaser renders them both in such broad strokes that it seems as if Branagh can only imagine the Belfast of his youth as a brogue-accented blend of other movies like it."
===Accolades===
At the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, the film won the People's Choice Award.Steve Pond, "'Belfast' Wins Toronto Film Festival's People's Choice Award". TheWrap, 18 September 2021. On 11 October 2021, it was announced that newcomer Jude Hill would be put forward in the Best Actor award at the 94th Academy Awards in 2022 while the remaining key cast members – Caitríona Balfe, Judi Dench, Jamie Dornan and Ciarán Hinds – have been entered into the Best Supporting Actress and Supporting Actor categories. The Best Narrative Feature award at the Middleburg Film Festival went to Belfast. Kenneth Branagh won a 2022 Golden Globe for Best Screenplay. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, such as Best Picture, Best Director, Actor in a Supporting Role (for Hinds) and Actress in a Supporting Role (for Dench).
==References==
==External links==
* 
* Official screenplay
Category:2021 films
Category:2021 comedy-drama films
Category:British films
Category:British black-and-white films
Category:British comedy-drama films
Category:English-language Irish films
Category:Films about families
Category:Films about The Troubles (Northern Ireland)
Category:Films about the working class
Category:Films directed by Kenneth Branagh
Category:Films impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic
Category:Films partially in color
Category:Films set in 1969
Category:Films set in 1970
Category:Films set in Belfast
Category:Films shot in Belfast
Category:Films shot in London
Category:Focus Features films
Category:Universal Pictures films
Category:Northern Irish films