Belfast
He forged a career spent adjusting the modern eye to William Shakespeare by nobly translating it without much adulteration. Then he fulfilled his foray into middle age with “director for hire” gigs featuring star-studded ensembles and major studio influence that buried his creative voice, but buoyed his relevance; someone who could easily reobtain the filmmaking prestige his early breakout promised when the right project rolled around.
By returning home to Belfast, Kenneth Branagh fulfilled the prophecy. Exclusively behind the camera on this picture, the writer-director-producer’s most personal movie yet runs conversely to his sprawling 4-hour 1996 film iteration of Hamlet in which he played the lead. Instead, he’s delivered a 98-minute, (mostly) black-and-white cut of intimate recall; his early boyhood defined by the threat, and eventual push, his family felt to flee town amid the Protestant v. Catholic “Troubles” of late 1960s Northern Ireland.
Belfast audiences are regularly moved to laugh in one instance and become teary-eyed in the next as they absorb the text through the eyes of Buddy (Jude Hill). Over the course of the film, the impressionable-as-can-be nine-year-old gradually becomes less all-consumed by strategizing a scheme to sit next to his class crush, and more awakened to the reality that the local cinema is simply not enough respite to keep his family from harm.
In simplifying the scale of his storytelling, Branagh reminds viewers no matter what opportunities can arise upon breaking free from the emotional shackles of home, it’s cathartic and necessary to not only return – but to recognize you can take home with you.
It took a master of one of the hardest tongues to offer up the most digestible “auteur reflects on his own childhood” cinematic family affair we’ve received during the recent emergence of this particular subgenre. Belfast surpasses Alfonso Cuarón’s Netflix-produced Roma (2018) on big-screen action and thematic bookends alone, and sets the bar quite high for Steven Spielberg’s equally semi-autobiographical “The Fablemans” due next year.
Released theatrically last month, the recipient of 7 Golden Globe nominations on Monday is already available to rent on digital platforms including Amazon Prime, iTunes, YouTube, Google Play and On Demand.
Succession
His victory tour in the freshest stage with the airing of Succession’s third jaw-dropping season finale in a row on Sunday, creator-showrunner Jesse Armstrong hasn’t missed an opportunity to redistribute the credit to the entire team. The writers room behind him and the cast before him are as top-notch as it gets, especially with their latest batch of episodes shattering any pondered notion that watching the HBO drama week by week would pale in comparison to the binge experience.
Those who have not invested in Waystar/Royco yet: the “modern-day Shakespeare” word-of-mouth sales pitch is not meant to imply the series is difficult to comprehend. It merely places emphasis on the unparalleled level of family betrayal, tension and dysfunction at play in a series about and for those involved in the fusion of classic big business with the dawning of the age of the Internet takeover.
The perfectly cast ensemble is led by Brian Cox, a Royal Shakespeare Company veteran essentially reprising King Lear – a 21st century rendition who holds the power to end a US Presidency with a news telecast and choose another one with a photo op. Cox’s aging CEO Logan Roy is reluctant to hand off the throne to his adult children he has groomed to think they’ll naturally inherit what they believe they’re owed, even though they were never explicitly told. Logan is a corporate “killer” in a world where “kill” is frequently used as shorthand by his embittered next of kin; spoiled, manipulative parenting byproducts who desperately want to pull the metaphorical trigger, but often confront their repressed humanity when it’s high time to shoot.
Not a full day after Succession’s universally acclaimed season 3 finale aired on HBO, Cox and fellow lead actor/in-universe sparring mate Jeremy Strong (Kendall Roy), and supporting actors Kieran Culkin (Roman Roy) and Sarah Snook (Shiv Roy) all earned Golden Globe nominations for their performances. The series itself earned a nod for “Best Drama Series” – an award it took home in 2020.
A saga like this could last forever – though theirs will last a “maximum of five seasons, but possibly more like four,” executive producer Georgia Pritchett told The Times this summer. In an industry where principal series talent oftentimes use the clout their show’s afforded them to chase other opportunities, Succession only continues to add more bodies to its “Boar on the Floor” player pool.
Seasons 1-3 currently available to stream on HBO Max.
