Kenneth Branagh, who wrote and directed 'Belfast,' saw the black-and-white coming-of-age film as a chance to dramatize memories of his childhood in the north of Ireland.
Jamie Dornan as "Pa", Ciarán Hinds as "Pop", Jude Hill as "Buddy", and Judi Dench as "Granny" in "Belfast."In a time of grim uncertainty about the future,"Belfast" sent Kenneth Branagh and Ciarán Hinds reaching back into the past.
In a joint Zoom interview this month, Branagh and Hinds discussed the personal realities that shaped their artistic creations. They also answered questions about the Oscars, the future of theatrical moviegoing and recent films they believe deserve a bigger audience.NBC News: Kenneth, “Belfast” is one of 19 feature-length films you have directed since 1989. It seems to be your most personal project, with a story partly drawn from your childhood recollections.
Ciarán, I know you are also from Belfast. The film is a testament to the adage that it takes a village to raise a child. Pop, your character, provides patient and wise counsel to his grandson. I’m wondering how much of the character was based on people you knew growing up in midcentury Belfast.: Ken drew from incredible portraits of the community from which he came, his parents and grandparents.
That’s when his life starts to change. Men seem to be intimidating other men. Boys of his age start to be recruited for what seem like innocuous errands but might be something else. That’s how he encounters politics, and it’s scary and it’s suspenseful and it’s new. In part, it’s like living out the stories of the Westerns that he watches on television, or the movies that he goes to see.
My feeling is: If you build it, they will come. Quality is necessary, but once you get back there, that reminder of what it’s like to have the group experience of responding to stories … I think if the work is good enough, the habit will be restored. It’s not easy, but I’m an optimist for the theatrical experience.
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