Films

Belfast – 5 Stars

A BEAUTIFUL movie, musing on the importance and extent of family.

 JACOB RICHARDSON

Much like family, though at times the film may frustrate, ultimately you feel more fully realised and whole on leaving the cinema than on entering.

Buddy (Jude Hill) is a young kid growing up in Belfast, Ireland. His poor but peaceful life is disturbed, however, when the growing troubles between Protestants and Catholics bursts over, leading to violence in his streets, the army in presence, and his father (Jamie Dornan) returned from his fl y-in fl y-out job in England concerned for his family.

Buddy’s Pa feels the danger of these times is too much for his two sons and wife, and wants to move the family to England, but his Ma (Caitriona Balfe) loves Belfast, and has lived there her whole life; she doesn’t want to leave.

Th row into the mix Buddy’s grandparents, Granny (Judi Dench) and Pop (Ciaran Hinds), who are dealing with Pops declining health, and you have a pressure cooker of danger, longing and memory; all while Buddy just wants to play in the street and romance his young classmate.

An evidently introspective and personal fi lm from director Kenneth Branagh, Belfast is a quiet and explorative piece that in many respects seems told through the child’s eye.

Whether it’s the slow parsing of information our lead character, Buddy, won’t have been privy to, or the oft en-low camera angles–both upwards of adults, and cropped to remove upper halves of bodies out of the fi eld of view–the fi lm showcases life for a child during this period, in a world of gigantic happenings.

Presented in black and white with the occasional splash of colour, the fi lm hints at modernity while maintaining a varnished sheen of remembered history.

Th ere are some striking visuals; whether it’s the initial riot, some crowded and gorgeous set decoration behind young Buddy’s grandparent’s house, or the fl ickering fl ames of a midnight neighbourhood patrol in the centre of a tiny street

Th e movie presents as art, almost as much as it does story. Th e visuals, even sans colour, capture the imagination and alight the mind, lett ing you chase down thoughts to fi ll in the gaps of these characters.

Buddy has a defi nite love of cinema, oft en taken by his grandma and family to see fi lms of the period.

Th e joyous charm with which this is presented brings a glowing warmth to the movie, and for much of the fi rst two thirds of the fi lm, these moments of levity and warmth glue together the family unit in our eyes; make us realise that and why these people love one another, despite the troubles affl icting them.

Performance-wise, the movie is full of gorgeous work. Dornan, continuing to distinguish himself as the go-to Irish leading man of the period, does great work as the compassionate, strong and kind father, while Caitriona Balfe as the mother is also fantastic.

As Granny, Judi Dench does a heck of a lot with only a handful of scenes, and even fewer important dialogue moments. Similarly, as Pop, Ciaran Hinds has a lot of eye-twinkling gravitas to imbue in the fi lm.

Together, Dench and Hinds bring the emotional heart to the fi lm; you may well cry at the trajectories their characters have, and their dialogue will stay with you long aft er leaving the cinema.

In the end, Belfast is a period piece that opens the eye to a deeply personal and individualistic perspective on one of the most recent armed confl icts in the Western world, and certainly one of the most recent signifi cant religious confl icts.

But it keeps all this as a background curtain to the story of a kid and his family; his love for his town, his burgeoning love of the pictures, and above all else, a family’s uncanny ability to grow, adapt and stay together, despite the troubles thrown at them.

Reviews by Jacob Richardson Creative Director | Film Focus www.filmfocusau.com

Spencer – 5 Stars

A captivating performance from Kristen Stewart anchors a beautifully presented, but ultimately heartbreaking tale.

 JACOB RICHARDSON

IT’S Christmas time, and the Royal Family is taking a holiday break at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk. What should be a joyous time, however, has been grievously marred; Princess Diana (Kristen Stewart) is struggling with her mental health problems, and is in the throes of deciding to end her decade-long marriage to Prince Charles (Jack Farthing).

Her mental state isn’t helped by the watchful eye of new valet, Major Alistar Gregory (Timothy Spall). As she deteriorates over the three days, she fi nds comfort in her sons William (Jack Nielen) and Harry (Freddie Spry), and surprising allies in her dresser Maggie (Sally Hawkins) and chef Darren (Sean Harris).

Pablo Larrain, of Jackie directorial fame, directs this interesting and at times exceedingly tense biopic about one of the most famous women on Earth. Larrain obviously has a near superhuman grasp of this material, and he expertly sets this apart from the fantastic Netfl ix series Th e Crown; delivering a truly unique and must-see fi lm that breaks through the miasmatic glut of Royal family content we have been subjected to in recent years.

Core to the success of Spencer is the stunning performance of the lead actress. Kristen Stewart’s recent years of work in indie fi lms, and even more recent toe-dipping back into mainstream cinema, have solidifi ed her acting talent in the viewing public far apart from her early work in the Twilight saga, but Spencer takes the cake.

For those in the know, it will be a welcome sight; for the unconverted, an indisputable display of talent. She’s a tour de force in this role, delivering a pitch perfect take on the people’s princess, while also bringing a lot of nuance and grace oft en without any verbosity.

Couple that with stunning cinematography. Visually, the fi lm feels like a more artistic take on the already beautiful Th e Crown. Whereas that series may be dark, contrasty and moody, this feels pastel and light; completely at odds with Diana’s mood.

It brings a sense of whimsy and levity to the visuals that (a) transports you back to the period quite well, particularly with the gentle haze misting each frame and (b) further heightens the suspense associated with Diana. Th ere’s some truly on edge moments in this movie, and they play out in pastel royal dreamworlds.

Th ese places feel like they are beyond the issues of us normal people, which is why when Diana suff ers in these sett ings, it feels all the more wrong.

Th ere’s a lot to love about this beautiful movie. Stewart brings whimsy to Diana that makes an already likeable underdog even more fun to watch, and her performance is legendary. Th e visuals are gorgeous, and mix fantasy with the most piercing historical period work.

Th e costuming is iconic, and Larrain stirs up as many of Diana’s most famous fashions as he can. Amongst all of that, and grounded in a story we know so well, the pacing is kept tight and runs over a simple three-day period, so Spencer never overstays its welcome.

Larrain’s previous work with Jackie was good, but frankly inessential viewing. Spencer suff ers no such fl aw; it’s a movie that has to be seen on the big screen, more than once.

Reviews by Jacob Richardson Creative Director | Film Focus www.filmfocusau.com