Belfast

Writer-director Kenneth Branagh tells a semi-autobiographical story. Young Jude Hill is playing in the street outside his row house, when suddenly Protestant gangsters march through and smash every Catholic household's windows, rip up the paving stones, and drive everyone, Catholic and Protestant alike to refuge. Soon the British Army is setting up occupation of the street, as the neighbors help each other, and Hill's immense extended family, presided over by grandfather Ciarán Hinds and grandmother Judi Dench seem to take everything in stride. But there's family problems as well as religious ones.

This movie reminded me of 2018's Roma, an important moment in history through the eyes of a boy filtered through the adult sensibilities of the film maker.... but without the extreme deep-focus camerawork that kept me wondering when we were going to start telling another story. Branagh gives us visual fireworks, with the attack on the street shown from young Hill's perspective, with a double-360-degrees panorama in slow motion.

In the end, the story is less about flashy camerawork or the religio-political uproar of the times, but how a loving, committed, decent family gets on with life, raising children, earning a living, and loving each other. Most stories about love are about the big events, the flashy events. This one shows us the day-to-day of love while everyone else is worrying about the big events.

To some it would come as a surprise that Kenneth Branagh is from Northern Ireland.

He never hid the fact that his family moved to Britain once the Troubles started in the late 1960s.

Once they arrived Branagh had to modify his Irish accent to fit in.

The semi autobiographical Belfast expands on the forces that drove Branagh's parents to take the momentous step to move away from their homeland.

Starting off in colour, it moves into black and white. Buddy is playing with other children in his neighbourhood. It is 1969 and both Protestants and Catholics live on the same street.

Suddenly shocking violence erupts, a Protestant mob wants to force the Catholics out.

In this turmoil, Buddy's dad who works as a carpenter in London contemplates moving to the mainland. Not helped by the financial woes over a tax demand.

For Buddy it also means leaving behind his grandparents and the girl he fancies at school.

For his dad, he is being pressurized to choose sides. It is no coincidence that one of the movies the family watches at the cinema is High Noon.

The Troubles is now mainly consigned to history. I speak to my children in the past tense as to my experience of growing up during the IRA bombing campaign ranging from the 1970s to the 1990s.

There was always a danger that visiting a city centre in the mainland during Christmas meant the risk of some kind of car bomb suddenly going off. In fact there was a day when I was stuck in a traffic jam meaning I was delayed getting to a place that was earlier blown up by an IRA bomb.

Belfast has been called nostalgic, having a thin plot. It is life affirming but does not shy away from the turmoil. It is framed in a child's viewpoint, wonderfully played by Jude Hill.

The events of the film are still relevant. Brexit has placed dangers on the Good Friday Agreement. The present Tory government is cynically playing fast and loose with it. The impact of the Troubles must never be forgotten.

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Belfast" (2021) is a wonderful movie written and directed by Kenneth Branagh. Clearly inspired on this person's childhood, this movie is not about religious disputes or anything like that. Its a movie about one men's memories about his childhood. What things look to him at the moment is what we see true his eye. And despite living on a different place and time me myself in my childhood i could easily relate to it because everyone remember their grandfather and grandmother for being ones heroes and etc. Their first best friends, their moms and dads and their inner backyard as being center of the world. At the end of this wonderful movie i remembered "Tokyo Story" (1953) because of its similar feeling and ideas it gave to me.

Overall, perfectly paced at running time 1 h 35 min "Belfast" is one of the best movies i saw in some time. Directing and writing were probably best Kenneth Branagh has ever done. Acting was amazing by everyone and cinematography and art design really place one in that place and time. Great movie.

This film was funny, heartfelt, sad and scary all in one. Although it is based at the start of the troubles the film didn't fully focus on the terror those times caused. It was good to see the Northern Irish humour being portrayed. Belfast isn't just about bombs and religion.

For those distraught about the film being black and white. Seriously?! I didn't even notice after about the 30seconds. It brought the film to its time and gave it charm. In all a great, mostly, light film based around a horrible time in Belfast.

A very solid if unremarkable coming of age film set during the Irish troubles of 1969.

This movie was very reminiscent of the 1987 film "Hope and Glory," only that film was much better. In fact, this movie reminded me a lot of the kinds of films that came out in the late 80s and throughout the 90s, accomplished and pleasing Oscar bait movies that gave not especially sophisticated adult film audiences products that were good and substantial enough to make them feel like they were seeing something important but safe enough to never make them feel challenged or threatened.

For me, what gave "Belfast" its heart was not the central story about a little boy and the parents who want to give him a better life than war-torn Ireland allows, but rather the side story about the enduring love between his grandparents, played by Ciaran Hinds and Judi Dench. The best scenes in the movie were the ones featuring those two, and Dench's scene at the end is the one that lingered with me most. I was thrilled to pieces when both of them were recognized with Academy Award nominations.

Grade: A-