BELFAST (Kenneth Branagh - 2021)

I didn't quite know what to think about the latest Branagh's movie when I saw it this month. I expected something more gritty and dark, probably, as it's set at the start of the "Troubles" which saw Northern Ireland suddenly deeply divided by sectarianism. But Branagh only brushes the surface of it because it's a highly autobiographical work, based on his memories as a kid there. He does not delve too much on the politics and the violence, but gives preponderance to the adventures of a family stuck in the middle of it, and more precisely of Buddy, his ten-year-old alter ego, who looks at all of this with his innocent eyes and the wonder of youth. Even in the midst of darkness, there are still moments of lightness, love and laughs, and that's one of the lesson of the movie.

In the end, you won't learn anything about the Troubles per se with this movie, but this is a movie which will speak to all of those who have been in the situation described here, people from Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Central America, Africa... People who - for no fault of their own but the crazyness of politic, war,sects - see the home they called theirs fall apart around them and are forced to seek for a better life somewhere else.