Belfast

Movie: Belfast

Nominated For:  Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Sound, Best Original Screenplay, 

How I watched: Prime Purchase

When I fell asleep: I did not

When it had me: The look had me right away

When it lost me: I drifted a bit at the end of the 2nd act

What I have to say:

Although the film takes place in 1969, amid tension and violence acted out against Catholics by militant Protestants, it feels older. Shot in black and white and centered around a little boy and his short pants and rucksack, it becomes hard for an American viewer to place this film in the same time frame as the Black Panthers and Woodstock. This is how we are presented with Belfast, a small town somehow lost in time and steeped in tradition. 

This film was relayed through such complex compositions. The visuals were often so breath taking that I felt visually nourished, if that makes any sense. So many angles and depths to each shot and almost always a character visible in the background or on the periphery. There was a lot to interest your eye and also a constant sense of accompaniment. Each shot reminds you that you are not alone, someone is always near. This could have seemed menacing but instead it was almost cozy; a fact of life lived closely with family. Camera angles remain low, from the perspective of the child that leads us through this story. In the same vain, the viewer receives a lot of information through over-hearing conversations, catching snippets here or there or from a variety of other sources. I was captivated by this grounding of the film's events through the experience of a kid. Such strong choices. I really felt like I went somewhere specific and experienced something. 

My complaints were minor. It felt like a LOT of song cues and there was a stall for a bit where I would have started dozing had I been more tired. But overall, I felt charmed, moved, and invited into an authentic moment in time. The character of Pops, the grandpa, was so specific and grounded in reality that he somehow felt representative of all grandpas to me...surely we all know one just like him?

What resonated most for me in this moment was the tension between the family's daily life and the larger picture of societal change swirling around them. The mom's character wants nothing to do with the change, keeping her head down and staying grounded in the realities of their daily life; paying the bills, feeding the kids, family functions. It reminded me of so many people I know who are disgusted by politics and say they choose to ignore it all because they have a life to live and no time for all that nonsense. It is shocking to see how quickly the town adapts to checkpoints and guards and barricades as they go about their daily lives (but honestly not THAT shocking as I mentally check that I have face masks stored in at least five different places.) The character of the father is more dialed in to the larger climate and knows that the changes going on around them cannot be evaded. Eventually, they can no longer ignore the magnitude of unrest and must figure out what comes next for them. Grounding yourself in your daily life may help you stay sane and present in your but sometimes it does not pay to ignore the big picture because whether you like it or not, that will affect your life too. Overall, a very beautiful movie that gives you a lot to think about.