Belfast (2021) * * * 1/2

Directed by:  Kenneth Branagh

Starring:  Jamie Dornan, Caitriona Balfe, Jude Hill, Judi Dench, Ciaran Hinds, Lara McDonnell

Shot in black and white and told with intimacy, Kenneth Branagh's Belfast is a portrait of a family held together by love during one of many eras of strife in Belfast, Northern Ireland.   After a brief shot of present-day Belfast, the action picks up on a small city block on August 15, 1969.   It cannot be a coincidence Branagh chooses this date, which was the first day of Woodstock in the United States.   The concert for peace and love is juxtaposed with another round of violent attacks by Protestants against Catholics.   

Buddy (Hill) is a nine-year-old boy (perhaps representing Branagh himself) who enjoys playing on the block, wooing a girl crush in his class, and visiting with his loving grandparents (Hinds and Dench).  When the violence breaks out, he is hurried inside by Ma (Balfe) whose husband, only known as Pa (Dornan) is away at work in London, but is swept up in the tumult when he returns home on weekends.   A friend attempts to entice Pa into joining the Protestant crusade against Catholics, but Pa refuses.  He only cares for the safety and future of his family, but finds such ideas may not be feasible in Belfast.

Besides Branagh's deft directing skills we have witnessed often, Belfast treats us to a family we care about.  Branagh knows this world and these people as only he can.   Belfast looks and feels like a story he has wanted to tell and wants us to understand how much it means to him and should mean to us.  The actors feel like a real family.   The people's intricacies, foibles, and personalities are felt from the inside out.   Belfast is a story of Branagh's remembrance of 1969 Northern Ireland.   Thank goodness he chose to flesh out the family's story and dials down the turmoil.   We have seen or heard about the Irish war between Catholics and Protestants told in many different films.   What we haven't seen is the story of how one family dealt with it and stayed true to themselves.