Beauty is in the eye of the beholder right? When you see something that you perceive to be beautiful it will take your breath away. Art is one of those beautiful things. Think about a piece of art you either saw at a museum or nowadays online. You remembered that art and that masterpiece stuck with you for days, maybe longer than that. Beautiful filmmaking and storytelling can do the same. When we see a beautiful film, we will talk about it and tell our friends to go and see it. Filmmaking is a beautiful art form and sometimes we as an audience need to sit back and enjoy the art that is shown to us through the acting and the director's vision.
Folks, Belfast was that beautiful film that made me think for days. This film was truly an artwork and deserves to be seen as such. From the amazing acting throughout the film to the precise camera work to the gorgeous cinematography. Belfast is a beautiful film and deserves the praise that reviewers are bestowing on it. Your Eastern Echo reviewer will never lead you astray, so go see this film. This might be the film of the year. With that being said, let's dive in!
Synopsis
The film follows a working-class family and a young child during the troubling 1960s in Belfast, Ireland.
Highlights
First things first, this was a powerhouse performance from the entire cast. Jamie Dornan, Caitriona Balfe, Judi Dench, and Jude Hill were fantastic. You know the film will be something special when you assemble a cast this strong and can see the raw emotions in every scene. We see powerful emotion through the facial acting with all of the actors. This was excellent acting and filmmaking, and you cannot create art without the actors giving it their all every single moment. Bravo to the excellent acting.
Over the last few years, we have seen movies lean into the using black and white throughout the film. Black and white filmmaking can only work on a few occasions in my opinion. Belfast made it look sharp and it fit the overall tone and period of the film.
This film had excellent storytelling. It was charming and funny in moments, but also kept to the overall serious tone of the story. Jude Hill brought a lot of humor which I absolutely loved. Belfast stuck to the overall story and kept the pace going very well. Got to love some great storytelling.
Throughout this film, we see some excellent camera shots. We get quite a few long takes with the characters speaking to one another. The long take is a risky shot sometimes, but if you can execute it can create some powerful moments. Low angle shots were also done incredibly well here along with some tight eye-level shots. The use of the camera can help tell the story; this film will give you the variety of shots that most films will not.
Continuing being a film snob, the cinematography was sharp. You can see the details of everything. The brick buildings looked incredible along with just the very detail of a street. People stress these things because this is what excellent filmmaking does. When these films are crafting, they take in account every little thing. These are the things that separate a film like Belfast and something along the lines of Venom.
Final Thoughts and Verdict
Belfast might be the film of the year and will easily be a strong contender come Oscar season. This is an amazing film that takes every aspect of filmmaking into account. Belfast will have you laughing and possibly shed a few tears by the end. This is a must-see film and is easily the best film that has graced your trusted Eastern Echo review.
Belfast gets a 5 out of 5 from me.
