Belfast

 Set in 1969 Belfast, right at the start of the euphemistically named 'Troubles', other critics have labelled the movie sentimental, romanticised and self indulgent.  All three are true in their way, but not to the detriment of the story.  This is being told by an adult, through the memories of the nine year old boy he was at the time, with a child's perspective on the world.  A world that mixes the love of family with the fear and danger of the developing crisis.switches to monochrome to take us back in time. 

Buddy (Jude Hill) lives in a working class area, predominantly protestant but with catholics often as neighbours.  He knows everyone, everyone knows him, it's a safe welcoming community.  His father (Jamie Dornan) works away in England most of the time, so he spends a lot of time with his grandparents (Judi Dench and Ciaran Hinds), while his mother (Catriona Balfe) struggles to pay the bills.  Life changes, dramatically and fearfully, when unionist thugs descend on the street, attacking the catholic homes and accusing all who are against them as collaborators.  Which includes Buddy's Pa.

The wee boy sees the terror, the changes, the arrogance of the suddenly imposed British military, without understanding.  His elders try to shield him from the realities of the bigotry.  But he does know the bad men want to harm his family, and that there is a big decision to be made - stay or leave?  He finds himself sucked into criminal activities like looting which he views as games, albeit risky ones, ones he's been told are wrong.  But he also continues to find joy in his surroundings, his relationships, and, big treat, going to the fantasy world of the cinema.  Which in turn is used as a clumsy metaphor.  His father trying to take a stand against the local thugs is paralleled with Gary Cooper in High Noon.  The sense of dropping into the unknown that the barricades and soldiers offered becomes the doomed, plunging Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - which goes on to fly into the blue yonder of course.  

This is a nostalgic, rose-distorted view of the times, which offers no insights into the underlying causes of the problems which would lead to all the violence and unhappiness of subsequent decades, but that's not the point.  It's a nine year old's contrast between the comforts of home life and the evil he is not equipped to understand.  This is a feelgood film about childhood, without pretensions towards political or social comment, and, taken as such, makes for good entertainment.  It's far from perfect, but it is engaging and beautifully acted.

(But I couldn't help wondering if  the real 1960s Belfast ever featured such a good looking family as this one!)