Belfast (2021 | Ireland | 98 minutes | Kenneth Branagh)
From the viewpoint of “Buddy” (Jude Hill), a precocious and big-hearted young boy, you’re pulled into the turmoil that was Belfast in the 1960’s. A majority of the folks living in the Republic of Ireland (the southern part of the country) consider themselves Catholic, and those in Northern Ireland (including Belfast) are Protestant, but the clash wasn’t exactly about religion, more about the politics of remaining under the umbrella of the United Kingdom (unionists in the North) as opposed to joining the rest of the country as a sovereign state (nationalists in the South). A time dubbed “The Troubles” began in the 60’s and didn’t really let up until the late 90’s (though there’s still conflict to this day). Independent groups in favor of remaining with the UK along with the British army and police brought on violence to any Catholic (nationalist) homes, and didn’t discriminate who they attacked or hurt.
It was a dangerous and scary time for any young person including Buddy, who lived on a street where both sides of the coin had been living harmoniously for as long as he could remember. As tensions grew, barricades and razor wire went up, checkpoints were added and childhoods were lost. Buddy and his family had to make a decision: stay on a street where everyone knows them, where his parents grew up, and his grandparents are a block away, or flee to a safer place with the promise of employment and prosperity that they would not find in Belfast.
As close to an autobiographical film as director, actor and writer Kenneth Branagh has ever come, this is in essence the story of his own childhood. When he and all his friends lost their innocence and the world came crashing down around their ears, all they knew to do was keep moving forward. Branagh’s “Buddy” is a light-hearted boy in love with a girl at school, minds his Ma (Caitriona Balfe) idolizes his somewhat absentee father (Jamie Dornan) who works in London to support the family, and cherishes his grandparents (Judi Dench and Ciarán Hinds) with a fierceness rarely seen nowadays. We follow him in that beautiful innocence with his adorably happy personality, but bit by bit the harsh realities of the world strip away the shiny veneer.
Moments of tenderness like the family heading to the movies or Buddy plotting with his grandfather to get noticed by his sweetheart are pierced with tanks rolling through the street and checkpoints keeping his father just on the other side of home. Bathed in black and white except for a few key moments, there was a simplicity to the story, but only on the surface; underneath was a roiling complicated mess of fear, sadness and distrust of the safety they once knew just waiting to erupt into madness. Belfast is one of those films that washes over you, it effects you for days afterward and you have to let it soak in to understand its full impact.
Packed with a truly stellar cast (Branagh wouldn’t trust just anyone with such a personal story), even the new-to-screen Hill was sublime as the carefree, yet wise young protagonist. Dornan and Balfe had a chemistry that both flowed with adoration and sensuality with a bite of the bitter reality of every couple who truly knows each other. The family has domestic troubles of their own, besides what is brewing on the street, and Balfe’s “Ma” is so poignantly portrayed: fraying at the edges, barely holding it together for her family, but the strength and stubbornness of an ox. The moments of cheek, joy and silliness perfectly balance with the severity of the conflict. I can’t gush enough about this film and while it’s emotionally draining, it’s also well worth the aftermath you’re left to deal with.
While the intensity of the fighting between Northern Ireland and the rest of the country has now cooled, that history is still firmly saturated in every brick, alleyway, and window of the titular city. A sadness like that, between friends and neighbors, doesn’t easily fade and Belfast brings that painfully, beautifully, and boldly into the light.
Belfast is in theaters November 12th.
All photos courtesy Focus Features.