Belfast

The 15th of August 1969. The day Buddy (Jude Hill) lost his innocence. While running to dinner after being called in from play by his Ma (Caitríona Balfe) he finds himself caught in the middle of sectarian hatred when a Protestant mob storms his street to oust his Catholic neighbours. His family will be safe if they play the game but his Da's (Jamie Dornan) loyalty is called into question when he won't take part in the intimidation and violence going on all around them. Buddy just wants to play and learn and watch films, he wants to talk to the girl he likes in school and enjoy the company of his grandparents Pop (Ciarán Hinds) and Granny (Judi Dench) but real life is closing in fast.

Director Kenneth Branagh was born in Belfast in 1960 and his family moved to England in 1969 to avoid the violence of the Troubles. Buddy's his proxy here and so we get his view of a horrible time in Irish history through both rose tinted glasses and from a child's perspective. For his Ma and Pa, who never get first names because they aren't something that children ever call them, the tension around them is a constant source of fear and stress. For a 9 year old it's an annoyance and as such Branagh never lets the horror take over because we all know how bad it got up there, it's been the subject of a thousand books and songs and films and documentaries but we rarely get a glimpse at the lives lived behind the doors lining the city's streets, the people who weren't involved, those just trying to live normally and make sense of the chaos outside. One beautiful moment sees Buddy trying to learn about women from his Pop who openly admits he hasn't a notion either while Granny watches them from an open window just like the soldiers in the towers and helicopters above watch them. Happiness and horror side by side.

Like Paul Thomas Anderson's recent Licorice Pizza there isn't really much of plot as much as a collection of misty B&W (not watercolour) memories that will strongly evoke similar memories for the audience; the fear and exhilaration of indulging in and getting away with a spot of underage criminality, the joy of seeing your parents happy and the fear and confusion involved when they aren't, the tummy butterflies when you realise you fancy the girl beside you in class and that great feeling when the adults in your life stop talking to you like a boy and start talking to you like a man. Throughout we get these wonderful little moments between Buddy and his parents and his grandparents that get reinforced late in the day by that famous bible quote about putting away childish things from verse 11 of 1 Corinthians 13. He's not there yet though, the childish things are still important to him, to his parents who want him to stay a child for as long as possible, his matchbox toys, a trip to the cinema to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, an awestruck viewing of Tom Doniphon taking care of business in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. It's easy to see Branagh's real life influences here but it's one of them that takes from the film late in the day.

As was want to happen on the streets of Belfast a riot has kicked off and Buddy and his family are caught in the middle and Branagh makes a musical choice that will roll your eyes in your head. On paper it might have sounded like a heroic way to see Pa through Buddy's eyes but the reality is just cringeworthy and it kills any bit of suspense in the scene stone dead. It won't ruin the film for you but it will cheapen it a bit. It's a shame but it doesn't take away from the strength of the performances here at least. Judi Dench feels curiously underused until the end where her 87 year old face tells us a million stories without saying a word while Ciarán Hinds, Jamie Dornan and Caitríona Balfe all do superb work especially the latter during a tear-stained rant on a bus that leaves her husband speechless. It's Jude Hill's film though. Buddy's always onscreen or in the background while life happens around him. Sometimes Branagh just leaves the camera on his face as he listens to adult conversations and the sound design in these scenes conveys his understand and confusion to a tee. 

Belfast is out now in cinemas. It's black and white imagery looks glorious on the big screen, making an intimate tale feel epic. It's worth your time.