The word masterpiece is banded around too often when it comes to movies . Not by me .
But this IS a masterpiece and it's film's like Belfast that are the reason I love this medium.
This is Kenneth Branagh's semi autobiographical film about a young boy and his working-class Belfast family , who experience the tumultuous late 1960s through good and bad in Northern Ireland.
There is so much I want to say about this film.
Firstly , if it doesn't win best picture this year I will never watch The Oscars again . It's a marvel of a film without it being anything like a Marvel film , thank god.
The cinematography is just amazing. It's predominantly set in black and white but there are little glimpses of colour that are just wonderful. One scene in particular where granny ( Judi Dench) is watching A Christmas Carol at the theatre with Buddy and the warm reflection of the colour from the stage is reflected in her glasses. Glorious.
Despite it being set during the troubles in Belfast , this is not the topic of the film . It's about a family seen through the eyes of a child ( presumably Branagh?) and it's delightful. It's funny , it's heartbreaking , it's life and despite never setting foot in Belfast myself , It felt like I was Buddy .
It's hard to pick out anyone in particular for their performances because everyone is amazing . From Jude Hill who plays Buddy to Judi Dench who plays Granny . The black and white makes all of her look her age and it's so beautiful. Even Jamie Dornan is great and I'm not usually convinced of his acting ability .
To top this all off there is a fantastic soundtrack featuring mainly the brilliant Van Morrison .
There are lots of references to films of the era .
One scene that will stay with me for a very long time is when the family go to see Chitty Chitty bang bang and we see their reaction to the car going over the cliff and their body movements as if they are in the car themselves . Genius
Kenneth Branagh has had a mixed past when it comes to directing films but he's made a movie here , that has blown me out of the water .
As I said - A Genuine Masterpiece.
But this IS a masterpiece and it's film's like Belfast that are the reason I love this medium.
This is Kenneth Branagh's semi autobiographical film about a young boy and his working-class Belfast family , who experience the tumultuous late 1960s through good and bad in Northern Ireland.
There is so much I want to say about this film.
Firstly , if it doesn't win best picture this year I will never watch The Oscars again . It's a marvel of a film without it being anything like a Marvel film , thank god.
The cinematography is just amazing. It's predominantly set in black and white but there are little glimpses of colour that are just wonderful. One scene in particular where granny ( Judi Dench) is watching A Christmas Carol at the theatre with Buddy and the warm reflection of the colour from the stage is reflected in her glasses. Glorious.
Despite it being set during the troubles in Belfast , this is not the topic of the film . It's about a family seen through the eyes of a child ( presumably Branagh?) and it's delightful. It's funny , it's heartbreaking , it's life and despite never setting foot in Belfast myself , It felt like I was Buddy .
It's hard to pick out anyone in particular for their performances because everyone is amazing . From Jude Hill who plays Buddy to Judi Dench who plays Granny . The black and white makes all of her look her age and it's so beautiful. Even Jamie Dornan is great and I'm not usually convinced of his acting ability .
To top this all off there is a fantastic soundtrack featuring mainly the brilliant Van Morrison .
There are lots of references to films of the era .
One scene that will stay with me for a very long time is when the family go to see Chitty Chitty bang bang and we see their reaction to the car going over the cliff and their body movements as if they are in the car themselves . Genius
Kenneth Branagh has had a mixed past when it comes to directing films but he's made a movie here , that has blown me out of the water .
As I said - A Genuine Masterpiece.