<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>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 <italic>Belfast</italic> (2021) and Terry Loane’s <italic>Mickybo and Me</italic> (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.</p>
</abstract>

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.

Between Troubles and Peace in Northern Ireland: Cinematic Divisions in Kenneth Branagh’s <italic>Belfast</italic> (2021) and Terry Loane’s <italic>Mickybo and Me</italic> (2004)

Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Film and Media Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Between Troubles and Peace in Northern Ireland: Cinematic Divisions in Kenneth Branagh’s  (2021) and Terry Loane’s  (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...

Between Troubles and Peace in Northern Ireland: Cinematic Divisions in Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast (2021) and Terry Loane’s Mickybo and Me (2004)

Published Online: Nov 10, 2022

Page range: 97 - 121

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ausfm-2022-0014

Keywords
Northern Ireland, Troubles, Peace Process,

© 2022 Andreea Paris-Popa, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Between Troubles and Peace in Northern Ireland: Cinematic Divisions in Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast (2021) and Terry Loane’s Mickybo and Me (2004)

Published Online: Nov 10, 2022

Page range: 97 - 121

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ausfm-2022-0014

KeywordsNorthern Ireland, Troubles, Peace Process,

© 2022 Andreea Paris-Popa, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Northern Ireland, Troubles, Peace Process,