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Romance reigns in “Belfast,” Kenneth Branagh’s cinematic memoir of his childhood in a turbulent Northern Ireland. From the bright, mostly black and white photography to the intimate friendliness of its working-class setting, the film softens both edges and hearts. The family in the center may have health problems, money worries, and an open toilet, but this isn’t Ken Loach-style abstinence: sand and glamor go hand in hand in these streets.
So when Ma (Catríona Balfe) sits at her door peeling potatoes for dinner, we notice the soft afternoon light dancing on her radiant skin and brunette tresses. And when Pa (Jamie Dornan), with a square chin and shoulders, steps home after a spell in England, the camera captures him like a returning hero. Of course, at least her younger son Buddy (a wonderful Jude Hill) is smart, cheerful, 9-year-old, and for a fictionalized version of Branagh, he is.
Seen largely through Buddy’s eyes, “Belfast”, which opened in August 1969 (after a brief, colorful montage of the present city), is about the destruction of an idyll. Just minutes into the movie, a Molotov cocktail ignites the intimate neighborhood where Catholics and Protestants live amicably side by side. A rotating camera reflects Buddy’s confusion and horror; Yet the film refuses to get into the stalemate of militancy as barricades rise and the local bully boy (Colin Morgan) tries to lure Buddy’s Protestant family from Catholic residents into a campaign to “cleanse the community”.
Instead, we watch Buddy play ball with his cousins; moon over a beautiful classmate; watch “Star Trek” and Westerns on TV; and spend time with their loving grandparents (Judi Dench and Ciarán Hinds). Branagh creates nostalgic, emotional scenes based on his own experiences. Some of Van Morrison’s hottest songs. Family visits to movies like “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” (1968) add wonder and fantasy to Buddy’s life and provide a clue to his future career. They also offer an escape from a conflict that he doesn’t understand and the director refuses to explain. Pieces of television news play in the background, but Growing Troubles to tear the country apart is not the story Branagh (whose family moved to England when he was nine) wanted to tell.
So while “Belfast” is in a sense a deeply personal coming-of-age story, it is also a more universal tale of displacement and rupture, most powerfully featured in Balfe’s violent, brilliant performance. Its originality, its cuteness, can be annoying at times, and its telescopic look fixes the heartbeat of a movie that offers little sense of life beyond Buddy’s block. Branagh’s memories may be idealized, but he wrote a charming pink thank-you note to the city that sparked his dreams with “Belfast” and to the parents who helped make his sacrifices come true.
Belfast
It’s rated PG-13 for loud bangs and angry bullies. Duration: 1 hour 38 minutes. In movie theaters.
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