YNOT at the Movies

No matter where you grow up, your childhood memories stick with you forever. And most likely they are nostalgic and endearing, and you would be eager to share with others. The acclaimed actor-writer-director Kenneth Branagh charmingly shares his childhood stories in "Belfast" (UK 2021 | 98 min.), the city in Northern Ireland where he grew up during the conflict between the Catholics and the Protestants. Gorgeously shot in black and white, the film is a heartfelt tribute to the people in his childhood who have left, stayed, and been lost in Belfast since the '60s.

The film's story unfolds through the eyes of a happy 9-year-old boy Buddy (Jude Hill) who plays on the streets in a close-knit neighborhood of both Catholics and Protestants. Buddy and his older brother Will (Lewis McAskie) are raised in a working-class family with their loving mom Ma (Caitriona Balfe), his witty grandparents Pop (Ciarán Hinds) and Granny (Judi Dench), while his dad Pa (Jamie Dornan) comes home every two weeks from his job in England.

Buddy's sunny and carefree childhood is shattered on August 15, 1969, when a mob of Protestants come to the neighborhood and torch some homes of the Catholics. Buddy's home is unharmed because his family is Protestant and not the target. The harmonic and blissful neighborhood is destroyed. This is too much for a 9-year-old's mind to wrap around and to figure out the reasons for the unrest that requires the military to be brought in to keep the order. Plus, he already has something in his young mind—he wants to win over the heart of a girl at school, who happens to be Catholic.

Despite the turbulent social and economic environment and his parents' hardship in dealing with the government's taxation, Buddy's day-to-day life is full of joy, happiness, wonder, and mischief, as he is told repeatedly, "Be good, and if you can't be good, be careful!"

With the terrific center performance from the adorable 10-year-old Jude Hill who was cast out of more than 300 child actors, the director Kenneth Branagh beautifully shares his bittersweet childhood memory during a trying period. It's certainly complicated in terms of politics, religion, and history for what happened in Northern Ireland during that time, but he tells his story from Buddy's perspective and focuses on the playful and enjoyable things that Buddy can comprehend. That makes most of the moments in the movie heartwarming and delightful. It inspires the audience to reminisce on with their own childhood experiences.

Almost every frame of the film is perfectly composed in gorgeous black and white (cinematography by Haris Zambarloukos) and perfectly captures the timeless moments in Buddy's memory. It also gleefully shows in color for the American movies and stage performances that Buddy and his family attend, giving us a glimpse of how they influenced the director's career since an early age.

Kenneth Branagh certainly didn't take the advice that Granny gave when Buddy left Belfast with his family: "Now go, don't look back." How can he not look back and splendidly share what he remembered?

"Belfast" opens on Friday, November 12, 2021.