Between Troubles and Peace in Northern Ireland: Cinematic Divisions in Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast (2021) and Terry Loane’s Mickybo and Me (2004)
The Troubles officially ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, but the conflict left such profound scars in the history of the region that making a film about Northern Ireland tends to almost automatically assume a discourse informed by division. The question that arises, then, is how this co...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Sciendo
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Acta Universitatis Sapientiae: Film and Media Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.2478/ausfm-2022-0014 |
| _version_ | 1798014088355250176 |
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| author | Paris-Popa Andreea |
| author_facet | Paris-Popa Andreea |
| author_sort | Paris-Popa Andreea |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Troubles officially ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, but the conflict left such profound scars in the history of the region that making a film about Northern Ireland tends to almost automatically assume a discourse informed by division. The question that arises, then, is how this context may be tackled so as to simultaneously do justice to its traditionally rendered black-and-white reality and offer a more complex, contemporary understanding of the past that embraces reconciliation, openness and multiplicity of perspectives. Thus, the paper offers a close analysis of multiple types of division featured in Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast (2021) and Terry Loane’s Mickybo and Me (2004) by making use of John Hill’s and Fiona Coffey’s theoretical categorizations that distinguish traditional Troubles productions from the more recent Peace Process cinema. This genre-based inquiry allows for a probing of the films’ positioning in relation to the Troubles paradigm, as well as a revealing of difference at the heart of two otherwise very similar films, whose employment of conventional vocabulary may not allow for their unproblematic alignment with the politics of peace. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T15:11:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9b317d0f62584095adc00f012977e01e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2066-7779 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T15:11:57Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Acta Universitatis Sapientiae: Film and Media Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-9b317d0f62584095adc00f012977e01e2022-12-22T04:16:36ZengSciendoActa Universitatis Sapientiae: Film and Media Studies2066-77792022-11-012219712110.2478/ausfm-2022-0014Between Troubles and Peace in Northern Ireland: Cinematic Divisions in Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast (2021) and Terry Loane’s Mickybo and Me (2004)Paris-Popa Andreea0University of Bucharest (Romania)The Troubles officially ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, but the conflict left such profound scars in the history of the region that making a film about Northern Ireland tends to almost automatically assume a discourse informed by division. The question that arises, then, is how this context may be tackled so as to simultaneously do justice to its traditionally rendered black-and-white reality and offer a more complex, contemporary understanding of the past that embraces reconciliation, openness and multiplicity of perspectives. Thus, the paper offers a close analysis of multiple types of division featured in Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast (2021) and Terry Loane’s Mickybo and Me (2004) by making use of John Hill’s and Fiona Coffey’s theoretical categorizations that distinguish traditional Troubles productions from the more recent Peace Process cinema. This genre-based inquiry allows for a probing of the films’ positioning in relation to the Troubles paradigm, as well as a revealing of difference at the heart of two otherwise very similar films, whose employment of conventional vocabulary may not allow for their unproblematic alignment with the politics of peace.https://doi.org/10.2478/ausfm-2022-0014northern irelandtroublespeace processbelfastmickybo and me |
| spellingShingle | Paris-Popa Andreea Between Troubles and Peace in Northern Ireland: Cinematic Divisions in Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast (2021) and Terry Loane’s Mickybo and Me (2004) Acta Universitatis Sapientiae: Film and Media Studies northern ireland troubles peace process belfast mickybo and me |
| title | Between Troubles and Peace in Northern Ireland: Cinematic Divisions in Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast (2021) and Terry Loane’s Mickybo and Me (2004) |
| title_full | Between Troubles and Peace in Northern Ireland: Cinematic Divisions in Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast (2021) and Terry Loane’s Mickybo and Me (2004) |
| title_fullStr | Between Troubles and Peace in Northern Ireland: Cinematic Divisions in Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast (2021) and Terry Loane’s Mickybo and Me (2004) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Between Troubles and Peace in Northern Ireland: Cinematic Divisions in Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast (2021) and Terry Loane’s Mickybo and Me (2004) |
| title_short | Between Troubles and Peace in Northern Ireland: Cinematic Divisions in Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast (2021) and Terry Loane’s Mickybo and Me (2004) |
| title_sort | between troubles and peace in northern ireland cinematic divisions in kenneth branagh s belfast 2021 and terry loane s mickybo and me 2004 |
| topic | northern ireland troubles peace process belfast mickybo and me |
| url | https://doi.org/10.2478/ausfm-2022-0014 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT parispopaandreea betweentroublesandpeaceinnorthernirelandcinematicdivisionsinkennethbranaghsbelfast2021andterryloanesmickyboandme2004 |