“Once we leave Spain, we never look back.” Those are the words of a newly naturalized U.S. citizen who was born and raised in Spain. His words came to mind while watching Kenneth Branagh’s very excellent (and plainly autobiographical) new film, Belfast.
There’s a joke in Belfast that will surely be mangled by me. It’s about why so many Irish leave Ireland: so that the world will have cops is the answer, or something like that. It comes off much better in what is a truly uplifting movie.
Belfast takes place in late 1960s Northern Ireland. It’s shot in black and white to presumably set a mood. The Belfast of fifty years ago wasn’t the prosperous one of today. It was violent and bereft of opportunity. It was bleak.
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