Belfast

I grew up listening to the twin soundtrack of the troubles in Northern Ireland and Vietnam. It is very hard to know what influence, if any, this experience had on my upbringing. This film's visceral and intimate  portrait connected deeply with memories I had long since buried deep within. The central character in this film is a nine-year-old boy called Buddy (Jude Hill). Set in Belfast in 1969 we are invited into Buddy's world as The Troubles begin to erupt on the terraced streets of the city. I am almost exactly the same age as Buddy and although I was physically far removed from Belfast, the film struck a deep resonance with me as I realised that this film could have been telling my story rather than Kenneth Branagh's.

This is in part a coming-of-age story. Buddy is trying to make sense of the world through his school work, a crush on classmate Catherine and guidance and wisdom he receives from his extended family. Into this already potent mix, the ugly horror of sectarian violence literally explodes outside his front door. Buddy's world is forever changed. Things suddenly get a lot more confusing and Buddy's context becomes one of black and white with little room for grey. The opening and closing scenes of the film are shot in vivid colour like some tourist promo for visiting the city. The story itself is beautifully lit and shot in black and white. The detailed sets took me back to my childhood and the reality of the story was reinforced by the inclusion of archive news stories such as Robin Day interviewing then Prime Minister, Harold Wilson.

As a semi-autobiographical film, it is very hard to question the story we are presented with as it flows from the subjective memories of nine year-old Branagh as he recalls them. Buddy lives on a street where Catholics and Protestants happily coexist as neighbours - why should it be anything other? Violence and threats are used to make the minority Catholic residents move out to create a pure Protestant ghetto. The British Army are deployed to maintain order amidst the growing unrest and the film manages to communicate the growing sense of unease amongst the families in the local community as they try to work out what is going on. This is not a conflict of their making or choosing and they struggle with being coerced to take sides.

At the heart of this film is the depiction of a family's honest struggle to survive, to do the right thing and to stay true to their heritage of being Belfast people. Buddy's father, Pa (Jamie Dornan) is a hard working joiner trying to provide for his family. Work is scarce in Northern Ireland and he works away in England visiting the family every couple of weeks. Trying to pay off his tax arrears and sustain his gambling habit stretches the family finances and creates tensions between Pa and Ma (Caitriona Balfe) which are heightened by the sense of threat The Troubles bring. Pa suggests the family emigrate to Australia or Canada where work is plentiful but the others do not want to leave their home and family. Pa's parents, Granny (Judy Dench) and Pop (Ciarán Hinds) impart their wisdom to the next generations as they approach the twilight of their lives. Family is at the heart of this film. Brannagh implicitly celebrates his family and the domestic security that nurtured him.

On more than one occasion the film's dialogue portrays the perceived Protestant collective understanding that Catholics are morally weak as all they do is go confession once a week and then live as they please knowing they can seek forgiveness again next week. At Granny's insistence, Buddy and brother Will (Lewis McAskie) attend chapel every Sunday. We share part of an impassioned sermon delivered by the Minister where the stark choice between the narrow straight road and the wide and easy road that descends to the eternal and inescapable lakes of burning sulphur is spelt out. More coercion in the name of religion. A painful reminder of sermons I sat through in the early days of my own faith and an encouragement to preach somewhat differently today!

The ensemble cast give a strong performance and the narrative arc is well paced and delivers some surprises. I feared other things might happen to the family but that merely demonstrated the power of fear and my imaginations ability to think the worst. This film has just picked up a pile of BAFTA nominations and I am sure it will feature at the Oscars too - and deservedly so. Branagh is a master storyteller and this film is so personal it draws you in and engenders empathy for Buddy and his family - as I watched, I began to care deeply what happened to Buddy. Yes, there are moments of gloopy sentimentality and I for one could have been spared the closing morality lesson delivered by Pa to Buddy in the final scene.

Ultimately this is a film about hope, love and relationships. It is also a film that shows how to tell a story in an uncomplicated way. It is a beautifully made film. I hope that it will inspire many people to visit Belfast and to discover not only something of the pain of the memories of The Troubles, but to explore the vibrant passion that has enabled a new Belfast to rise from the ashes and become the pulsating city it is today. I'll give it 8/10.

Nomadland

I watched this film with a group of friends at church as part of our discipleship programme exploring themes of 'home' this term. I found the film to be very depressing but I'm glad I saw it as its multiple messages are important and need to be heard and seen. Others found the film uplifting. It's just as well not everybody is like me! I guess it's a 'Marmite" film - as it appears was the score of plinky piano and a cello being sawed in half - yep, I didn't like that much either!

For me this was a film whose story was primarily about two things: remembering and relationships. To remember literally means to put back together. For me, the film pivoted around a scene where a helpful friend had accidentally dropped a box containing some crockery that Fern (Frances McDormand) had very strong sentimental attachment to - and for good reason. A plate was broken that was part of a dinner service given to her by her now dead father - the design was Fall Leaves. As Fern painstakingly glued the pieces back together, she remembered her strong bond with her father and felt again the pain of loss.

The pain of loss lies at the heart of this film - yet there is hope for Fern and those she shares her nomadic lifestyle with. The town in which Fern and her husband lived and worked was a one employer town and everybody worked at the factory or in one of the businesses supporting the community. When the factory closed the town became a ghost town and everybody became jobless and houseless as the company also provided housing. Not long afterwards, her husband died. Fern had lost her job, her husband and now her home. All she had left was a van. The van became more than just a home for Fern. It contained many of her memories and she had customised the interior with things from her previous home and life and possessions of her husband. Although houseless, Fern never considers herself to be homeless, as home is somewhere deep within.

Other characters in the film - many of them real life nomads, have also experienced loss. With a social security system unable to provide a living pension, many of these people could not afford to live in a house or flat despite a lifetime of paying tax. A rent free van or RV and the empty desert was all they had. With monochromatic landscapes and shot almost exclusively with hand-held cameras (not even steadycams) and often in extreme facial close-up, the characters offer an openness and honesty which allies with the integrity of their way of life. Not once in the 103 minute run time did we see a law enforcement officer - there was no need of them. Often it is clear that the dialogue is improvised but it works so well.

What we did see plenty of was community. Relationships were the second key theme for me. Fern was widowed and childless. Later in the film we discover she has a sister. She forms attachments to a number of characters such as Linda (Linda May) and Swankie (Charlene Swankie) and is torn about her feelings for Dave (David Strathairn) with whom the prospect of a romance develops throughout the film. The group of nomads rally around Bob (Bob Wells) who delivers quasi-philosophical witterings that find an a welcoming home amongst the semi hippy nomads. His rhetoric helps them to find an identity as a group.

The starkness of the nomadic lifestyle forces each nomad to face up to the reality of death at some point. There is a lot tree-hugging New Age type communing with nature with a strong 'everything in the universe is connected' feel. We could learn much from this. The way the narrative plays out, sets up a dichotomy between a settled life with a job and a mortgage, family responsibilities and social engagements against the freedoms of being a nomad. Twice in the film, Fern is offered permanent accommodation, first with her sister and later with Dave's son's family. She rejects both offers and returns to the open road.

Whilst some of the nomads appeared to be fairly static or stayed within one locale, others were clearly on a never-ending road trip and others like Fern, followed seasonal work around the country. We see Fern joining the Christmas recruits at an anonymous Amazon Fulfillment Centre picking and packing goods for Christmas. She then moves on to working in a restaurant and then being an attendant at a  camping and RV ground and in the autumn works the sugar beet harvest. Throughout she demonstrates that she is no shirker, Fern is a hard worker with a strong moral code and a predisposition to always be looking out for others in her community. She is generous and loving - at least as far as her own limitations allow.

If ever a script had Frances McDormand's name on it, this is it - she also co-Produced the film. She not so much acts but feels like one of the real life nomads in the film (therefore is an excellent actor!). Her character Fern commands attention. With Chloë Zhao's sensitive and detailed Direction and the hand-held camera work, this film offers an intimate portrait of an important and growing slice of American society. Has the American Dream simply been illusory for them or are they living it? As I said above, this film has much that is important to say and its three Oscars testify to that. If you've not seen the film, do see it. I'll give it 7/10.