Kenneth Branaugh says 'Belfast' has lessons for a divided America

I gave a capsule description of "Belfast" in Politics, government, and diversity among movie nominees at the 2022 Golden Globes, writing the film is "political, as it takes place in Northern Ireland during the 1960s, when The Troubles started to escalate," but "primarily [a] family drama..." MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell previewed the film's Oscar nominations when he interviewed its writer-director Kenneth Branagh in Branagh's 'Belfast' Has Lessons For A Fiercely Divided America.

Oscar-nominated director, actor, and screenwriter Kenneth Branagh joins MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell to discuss his brilliant new film, ‘Belfast,’ which is based on Branagh’s own experiences with the start of The Troubles in Northern Ireland. The two also discuss the parallels of the turbulent era brought to life in the film and the current deep political divide in the United States.

I found reason for both alarm and hope in Branaugh's and O'Donnell's observations. The alarm comes from Branaugh's description of the street where he grew up being transformed in a matter of hours into a barricaded and occupied area during a low-grade civil war. That situation lasted for about thirty years until the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Yikes! The hope is that family life continued through all of it and Northern Ireland recovered to the color scenes of today that open the movie. If all that happens to the U.S. on that time scale, I may not live to see it, but my children will. That's cold comfort for me, but it is something, although I'd rather have the U.S. fall into civil disorder. That's a topic I'll have to examine again, as it's a prime example of collapse and decline.*

O'Donnell was correct in forecasting Oscar nominations for "Belfast." The movie has earned enough awards and nominations that the topic has its own Wikipedia page. The Motion Picture Academy nominated "Belfast" in seven categories: Best Picture, Best Director for Kenneth Branagh, Best Supporting Actor for Ciarán Hinds, Best Supporting Actress for Judi Dench, Best Original Screenplay for Kenneth Branagh, Best Original Song for Van Morrison for "Down to Joy," and Best Sound. I plan on writing about the film's chances for most of its nominations later, but right now I'm venturing that Branaugh, who won Best Screenplay for "Belfast" at Golden Globes, is the most likely winner for Best Original Screenplay.

I am disappointed but not surprised that Judy Dench earned the Supporting Actress nomination over Outlander actress Caitríona Balfe. I think both repelling and attractive forces contributed to that choice. I'm going to be a good environmentalist by recycling what I wrote in Fantastic and futuristic politics and government nominees at the Critics Choice Super Awards for National Science Fiction Day for what pushed the Oscar voters away from Balfe: "[T]he creatives in Hollywood won't give 'Outlander' the time of day. As I wrote in September, 'The fans love 'Outlander.' The professionals, not so much.'" That even seems to extend to the actors in roles outside the fantasy historical romance series. As for the attractive force, all I have to type is "Dame Judy Dench." Electorates matter.

"Belfast" may be the most nominated contemporary or historical film at the Oscars nominee about politics, but it's not the most nominated movie about politics in general. That distinction belongs to "Dune," which features a lot of futuristic politics and political allegory in its science fiction. I definitely plan on writing about it. Consider this a down payment on the Oscars posts I promised at the end of 'Diana the Musical' leads 2022 Razzies with nine nominations. In the meantime, stay tuned for Darwin Day.

*Yes, I'm still a doomer blogger and societal collapse is still part of the blog's description, although I'm writing about that mostly in terms of the pandemic lately.