Regrettably, Will Smith’s now-infamous slap dominated the headlines after this year Oscar’s ceremony, and overshadowed some noteworthy winners.
Spare a thought for writer-director Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical masterpiece, Belfast. It was nominated for a string of awards and won best original screenplay.
Shot in black and white and interwoven with Van Morrison songs the film effortlessly transports viewers back to the start of the Troubles in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s, when Branagh was a boy.
Taking to the stage for his first Oscar win after eight nominations in various categories, Branagh described his childhood story of Belfast as “the search for hope and joy in face of violence and loss”.
“And we will never forget all of those lost in the heartbreaking, heartwarming, human story of that amazing city of Belfast on the fabulous island of Ireland,” Branagh said.
“This means a lot.”
Belfast leans heavily into the point of view of nine-year-old Buddy who lives in a row of terrace houses in a Protestant enclave, close to the heart of brewing tensions. The surrounding streets are his rough-and-tumble playground full of childhood adventures.
Buddy’s family are Protestants; their Catholic neighbours are soon to be driven out of their homes by sectarian hostility.
We see the problems faced by Buddy’s parents and grandparents (and of course, the ever present British army).
Buddy’s Pa (Jamie Dornan) is a labourer working in England who returns home to a growing pile of unpaid bills, amidst violence brewing on the streets.
Supportive grandparents Granny (Judi Dench) and Pop (Ciaran Hinds), live nearby and are feature heavily in Buddy’s everyday life.
Bombs explode in the street, Catholic residents are threatened and told to leave, but Pa refuses to be drawn in to the conflict which appears to be driven by local gangsters rather than any larger belief in politics or religion.
Soon there are barricades on the street and tough army security.
In the thick of it all, young Buddy experiences first love. He daydreams about the smartest girl in his class – who is a Catholic. “She could be a vegetarian antichrist for all I care,” Pa reassures him.
Young Buddy strays from the straight and narrow when he is encouraged by a schoolfriend to join in as a gang loots a supermarket.
His Ma (Caitríona Balfe) marches Buddy back into the wrecked supermarket to return the one item he stole: a box of washing powder.
What makes the film so moving is the warmth and shared love of a close-knit family that refuses to surrender to any one side.
Pa understands that sectarian violence is about to overtake their neighbourhood and the only healthy choice is to leave, but Ma doesn’t want to sacrifice all she has ever known for the promise of a better life in England, Canada or even further away in Australia.
“Mama says if we went across the water, they wouldn’t understand the way we talk,” Buddy says to Pop. “If they can’t understand ya, they’re not listening,” Pop answers. “You’re Buddy from Belfast.”
The film is dedicated to all those who stayed, those who left, and to those who suffered as they lived through it all.
