Written by Dylan James, Image courtesy of Focus Features
“Which road will you take?”
That is the question begged in “Belfast,” the new coming-of-age comedy/drama by the esteemed actor, writer and director Kenneth Branagh. The film is a semi-autobiographical portrait of a child’s experiences in Belfast, Ireland, in 1969; the period which saw the genesis of “The Troubles”.
The protagonist is a young boy named Buddy, who is a curious and vibrant lad as one could be. With a wooden sword and garbage-pail shield in hand, he play-fights with his friends on the nearby playground until he is beckoned home for tea. A jaunty sprint through his close-knit neighborhood is brought to a screeching halt; masked men carrying torches come barreling through the streets, smashing windows, attacking civilians, and hurling Molotov cocktails. Buddy’s mother comes to his rescue, along with his brother and father. The family, thankfully, is spared of the violent wrath.
In just the first five minutes, Branagh sets the audience up for both the whimsical charm and enthralling dramatic heights that will follow.
Now, for “The Troubles”, a civil uprising between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland. Armed Protestants sought a “cleansing” of the Irish soil, violently seeking the inferior religion’s practitioners. The street in Belfast which our protagonist’s family lives is full of Catholic homes – except for Buddy’s. The family, led by father (Jamie Dornan), is stuck on the wrong side of a war. A peaceful exception to his peers, he doesn’t seek division between the religions, much to his own endangerment.
Buddy, for the first part of the film, is moved but not tainted by the violence. He would much rather be out with his Pop and Granny, galivanting to the cinema, or trying to win the affection of his school crush, Catherine. It is only when his family must make a crucial decision during the social turbulence: leave Belfast for their own safety or remain and be seen as traitors to the Protestant church. Which road will they take?
The majority of the film was shot in black-and-white, but it is not colorless. Scenes from American movies shown at the local cinema are in color, and in one brilliant shot, even reflected onto the black-and-white glasses of Buddy’s Granny. The film is idealistic in approach and presentation, an understandable choice coming from the mind of a man who lived through the events as a youngling. It is told as though it was spoken from memory. Each character is vibrant with a distinct personality, and Branagh’s expertise on the dramatic shines through his writing and empathy for the actors, especially young Jude Hill, who easily won the audience’s heart over the course of the movie.
Jamie Dornan and Caitriona Balfe shine as struggling parents and spouses, offering spoonfuls of stark reality between moments of enchantment. Then, there is Ciaran Hinds and Judi Dench as the grandparents, whose occasional bickering and banter, which can only come from a hundred years of loving, plucks at the heartstrings like an old Irish Lute.
Perhaps the biggest impression the film left was how delicately it dealt with the Troubles’ influence in the story. Buddy is not placed in the middle of the riots; the tumult is outside of him. In other words, the values and objectives of the main character are that of any other little kid. The violence only comes to represent one thing for Buddy: the crushing possibility of leaving his beloved home.
Like a tall pint of Guinness on a rainy Sunday, Belfast does the heart good. With hefty loads of laughter, love and thrill, it is safe to say this is one of the finest films of the year.
