Michael's Movie Grade: B+
Kenneth Branagh's most personal film (his own words) is irresistibly sweet and heartfelt.
This movie tells the story of a young boy growing up in Belfast, Ireland in the 1960's among much unrest and violence. Anyone who is familiar with director, Kenneth Branagh's childhood will find that there is much here that is very similar to his own childhood. Perhaps that is why much of imagery and atmosphere in this movie is so vivid. What really makes this film something special is the little moments. This can perfectly be seen in the scenes that take place at the "pictures." Seeing the movie screen light up this little boy's eyes and imagination is magical and reminds us film buffs, what made us fall in love with movies to begin with. The scenes with the grandparents sitting and talking with each other and our protagonist are also delightful. The dialogue here feels incredibly real and natural. Through these scenes the characters become much more than characters in a film but real people. We simply enjoy spending time with them and listening to them the way we do our own family and that kind of easy going and seemingly effortless charm make a world of difference. This also makes it so that when the emotional moments of the plot kick in, we completely care about what happens to these characters. Despite being a sweet and sentimental film, this movie never sugarcoats anything. Yet despite this the sweetness is still present throughout and delightful. The reason for this is that we see the world through the eyes of our main character. This character is not dumb and can certainly grasp a lot of what is going on, but on the other hand he does not have the cynicism that an adult character would have. This works extremely well and this movie would not have been as good told from the point of view of any other character.
Black and white movies are a rarity these days. That is why I appreciate that this film was not only made in black and white but looks beautiful in it. Black and white has a look and feel that is completely different from that of color and this film uses that look and feel to its full advantage.
Unfortantly this film does have a few problems. One is that the girl are main character has a crush on has so little screen time that we never get to really know what her personality is. When this part of the plot disappeared and reappeared later, I realized that I had kind of forgotten about this part of the story. This movie also has a weak antagonist character who has little personality outside of being mean to our hero's family.
All in all this is an excellent movie and a delight for film buffs.
This movie tells the story of a young boy growing up in Belfast, Ireland in the 1960's among much unrest and violence. Anyone who is familiar with director, Kenneth Branagh's childhood will find that there is much here that is very similar to his own childhood. Perhaps that is why much of imagery and atmosphere in this movie is so vivid. What really makes this film something special is the little moments. This can perfectly be seen in the scenes that take place at the "pictures." Seeing the movie screen light up this little boy's eyes and imagination is magical and reminds us film buffs, what made us fall in love with movies to begin with. The scenes with the grandparents sitting and talking with each other and our protagonist are also delightful. The dialogue here feels incredibly real and natural. Through these scenes the characters become much more than characters in a film but real people. We simply enjoy spending time with them and listening to them the way we do our own family and that kind of easy going and seemingly effortless charm make a world of difference. This also makes it so that when the emotional moments of the plot kick in, we completely care about what happens to these characters. Despite being a sweet and sentimental film, this movie never sugarcoats anything. Yet despite this the sweetness is still present throughout and delightful. The reason for this is that we see the world through the eyes of our main character. This character is not dumb and can certainly grasp a lot of what is going on, but on the other hand he does not have the cynicism that an adult character would have. This works extremely well and this movie would not have been as good told from the point of view of any other character.
Black and white movies are a rarity these days. That is why I appreciate that this film was not only made in black and white but looks beautiful in it. Black and white has a look and feel that is completely different from that of color and this film uses that look and feel to its full advantage.
Unfortantly this film does have a few problems. One is that the girl are main character has a crush on has so little screen time that we never get to really know what her personality is. When this part of the plot disappeared and reappeared later, I realized that I had kind of forgotten about this part of the story. This movie also has a weak antagonist character who has little personality outside of being mean to our hero's family.
All in all this is an excellent movie and a delight for film buffs.
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