Belfast

Give Ireland back to the Irish, don’t make them have to take it away…In 1969 Belfast, little 9 year old Buddy is learning about The Troubles, up close and personal and trying to understand why it should make a difference, if you’re Protestant or Catholic.  His Ma is raising him and his brother (he actually has two brothers) while Da is in off the island working in London and coming home every two weeks to reconnect with family, Pa and Grannie.  Although not ideal, things are going along swimmingly until the Molatov’s start to fly, the neighborhood is walled off and everybody is living each day gingerly and with extreme prejudice. 

This semi-autobiographical film shows a small peek at Director/Writer Kenneth Branagh’s up-bringing pre-everything, because he’s a little kid, Protestant and has a big old crush on a little girl who just happens to be Catholic.  He’s normal and gets into his own troubles when he takes the wrong advice.  Grannie and Pop are there to share the wisdom of their years and it’s really too bad, but if more people actually listened to their elders, we might not have things happen like The Troubles or even what’s happening in Eastern Europe now. 

To this writer, war, of any sort, is unnecessary, especially religious “wars”.  You vill not be allowed freedom of speech, thought, or breath in the name of God, but only my God, not yours.  Here’s a challenge, explain what’s right about that to a kid.  Bet you can’t.  so there you have it…an Irish kid who moves to England, grows up to be proper English, play the likes of a Wizard, a Belgian Detective, a King, a Danish Prince, and an award winning director/writer/actor who should have gone up on stage and slapped Will Smith for making one of the worst movies ever, hint – The Wild, Wild, West.  Rating:  3 Shamrocks and pint.