Branagh shares how and why he approached adult-sized issues from the perspective of a child…
Do you remember what it was like to be a kid?
It’s possible you recall bits and pieces, key moments, and stories you’ve heard retold. Do you remember what the world seems like from that angle?
You certainly will after you watch Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast. It’s a journey back in time to Northern Ireland in the late 1960s just as troubles broke out and a multi-decade conflict began in the region.
But Belfast isn’t about that deeply complex and layered struggle. It’s about one boy and one family. And in that simplicity and focus, it actually becomes relevant to all of us.
Branagh wrote Belfast while in quarantine. He said he felt the story was always there and he eventually needed to revisit his experience, and tell it. It is very much his own story, and I jokingly called it “portrait of a filmmaker as a young man” because the knowledge we all have watching is that this boy will become Kenneth Branagh, prolific performer, filmmaker, and creative voice.
Author: George Edelman
This article comes from No Film School and can be read on the original site.
