Kenneth Branagh returns to change his childhood in "Belfast," a black-and-white autobiographical melodrama set in the Northern Ireland capital in the late 1960s, against the backdrop of violent events in the country between Protestants and Catholics.
At the center of the film, which has been nominated for no less than seven Oscars, stands a cute blond boy named Buddy (Jude Hill), whose character is ostensibly based on the experiences of screenwriter-director Brana.
Buddy grows up in the warm and loving Protestant family, which belongs to the working class, and finds himself maturing faster than planned when the civil war breaks out around him.
Buddy's industrious and tolerant father (played by Jamie Dornan) is often absent from work due to work issues, his mother (Katrina Belf) balances child education and housekeeping with loving rigidity, and his grandparents (Kieran Hinds and Judy Dench) abound in words of encouragement. And wise advice.
Between one violent event and another, the family goes to the movies and church together, and Buddy falls in love with the smartest girl in his class (obviously she is Catholic) and experiences loss.
Meanwhile, Buddy's father, who wants to "give the children a better life", manages to keep himself and his family out of the violent struggle and repeatedly offers to leave the blazing Belfast and move to calmer London.
But Buddy's mother is unwilling to hear about it.
"I only know Belfast," she says over and over.
Until she no longer really has a choice.
On the face of it, "Belfast" really includes all the necessary elements for a nostalgic British drama of this kind, and not for nothing is it reminiscent of similar films in the genre made by great directors like John Borman, Terence Davis, Ken Loach and Mike Lee.
However, despite the beautiful photography, Brana's film does not really manage to convince that it is the real thing.
His characters remain superficial and undeveloped sketches;
The situations in which Buddy finds himself all sinfully clichéd;
And despite the presence of a number of tearful monologues, the on-screen drama is not impressive, in-depth or surprising in any way.
And worst of all: there's something flattering and flattering about it.
Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón also wanted to dive into his past in black and white in "Rome" in 2018, but he did so creatively, virtuosically and sometimes even breathtakingly.
Brana's film, however, is not interestingly made.
On the contrary.
It seems to have been shot in a hurry and in a semi-improvised manner and without deep and serious planning.
As a result, you will not find unusual camera moves here, the scenes of occurrence look like sets for everything, and for a moment there is no feeling that the film manages to move viewers to a different time and place.
In short, even though it looks and sounds like it, "Belfast" is not really a serious movie.
But if you think it will hurt his chances of winning an Oscar - you are of course wrong.
Score: 4
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