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Starring: Caitriona Balfe, Judi Dench, Jamie Dornan, Ciarán Hinds, Jude Hill, Colin Morgan, Lara McDonnell, Gerard Horan, Conor MacNeill
OUR RATING: ★★★½
Story:
Drama written and directed by Kenneth Branagh. Belfast (2021) centers on a young boy Buddy (Jude Hill), and his working class family amid the tumult of Belfast, Northern Ireland in late 1960s.
Our Favorite Quotes:
Best Quotes
Buddy: Paddy Kavanagh told me as long as Catholics keep confessing everything bad that they do to a priest, then they can do whatever they want, and God will forgive them
all the time.
Ma: Well, Paddy Kavanagh’s family’s not going to be living in this street for much longer, so you’d better check he’s not taking the hand out of you. I don’t know how it works. They get a lot of water thrown on them, and then they’re okay. I think that’s it.
Buddy: I’ve had too much God for one day.
Ma: Well, your granny says you can never have too much God. You might need him before too long.
Buddy: But, daddy, are you not going to be a vigilante on our barricade?
Pa: No more talk about bloody barricades. That whole nonsense will stop soon enough.
Ma: I wouldn’t be too sure about that.
Buddy: Was that our side that done all that to them Catholic houses in our street, daddy?
Pa: There is no our side and their side in our street. Or there didn’t used to be, anyway.
Pa: It’s all bloody religion. That’s the problem.
Buddy: Then why are you sending us to church?
Pa: Because your granny would kill me if I didn’t.
Buddy: But, daddy, if we were Catholics, we could not go to church, and then every once in a wee while, we could go in and confess. And then they’d have to tell us we were forgiven, and we wouldn’t have to go in again for ages.
Pa: I’ve nothing against Catholics. But it’s a religion of fear.
Pa: So the doctor says, “Listen, John. I’ve got some bad news and worse.” And John says, “Oh, no. What’s the bad news?” And he goes, “Well, you’ve only got twenty-four hours to live.” John says, “That’s awful. What could be worse than that?” Doctor says, “Well, I’ve been trying to get ahold of you since yesterday.”
Moira: They can just come up to you when you’re not expecting it, and ask you, “Are you Protestant or Catholic?” But it’s a trick question, you see, because they don’t tell you what they are. And what do you say then to not get a dig in the gob?
Buddy: “I’m a Catholic?”
Moira: Wrong. That’s exactly what they think you will say. They think you’re trying to bluff them. But you have to double-bluff them.
Buddy: How?
Moira: You say, “I’m a Protestant.”
Buddy: But I am a Protestant.
Moira: That’s the point!
Billy Clanton: We’re looking to cleanse the community a wee bit. You wouldn’t want to be the odd man out in this street. You saw what happened to your neighbors from the other side.
Pa: You touch my family, and I’ll kill you.
'Too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart.' - Pop (Belfast) Click To Tweet
Frankie West: Not many people chose this.
Pa: There’s a few men hiding behind them barricades.
Frankie West: And they’ll keep hiding where they’re afraid for their families. It’s a waiting game now. When it’s time for that wall to come down, I’ll be the first to swing a hammer, but now? “They also serve who stand and wait.” We can’t all be acting the Lone Ranger.
Ma: No wonder you brought us to this.
Pa: It’s educational for the boys.
Ma: Aye. Raquel Welch is a hell of an education.
Pa: This is the time to think about making a new start.
Ma: I know nothing else but Belfast.
Pa: Exactly. There’s a whole world out there. We can give these boys a better chance than we ever had.
Pa: We’re living in a civil war, and I’m not here to protect my family.
Ma: [referring to the brochures of other countries] What are those supposed to be?
Pa: An escape route.
'What's yours is mine, and what's mine is my own.' - Granny (Belfast) Click To Tweet
Pop: [to Buddy] Women are very mysterious.
Granny: And women can smash your face in too, mister.
Pop: Your granny’s become less mysterious over the years.
Pop: [referring to Catherine] So, you really like her?
Buddy: When I grow up, I want to marry her.
Pop: Yeah, sounds like you really like her.
Buddy: [referring to Catherine’s home] I pass it every day on my way home. I try to look in, but she never sees me. She’s always doing her bloody homework. If she were a wee bit more stupid like me, we’d be sitting together by now.
Pop: Ah, “a pity beyond all telling is hid in the heart of love”.
Granny: Oh, he’s full of pretty answers, that one.
Granny: Here, take this threepenny bit. Get yourself a wee sweetie.
Buddy: I’m not allowed, Granny. My da says you can’t afford it.
Granny: I’m always saying to your man there, what’s yours is mine, and what’s mine is me own.
Mr. Stewart: Right, Billy, we’ve no call for fists here.
Billy Clanton: Aye? Well, what is it the man says? A fist is only as good or bad as the man using it. Remember that.
[punches Stewart in the face]
'The Irish were born for leaving. Otherwise, the rest of the world would have no pubs.' - Auntie Violet (Belfast) Click To Tweet
Buddy: God. This takes ages. No wonder they call it long division.
Pop: Patience. Patience with the sums. Patience with the girl.
Pop: And now just make sure your numbers aren’t very clear to read. She might give you the benefit of the doubt if your seven looks like a one with a fancy tail, right? The same with a two and a six. Keep her guessing. That means you’ll have two or three horses in every race.
Buddy: Isn’t that cheating?
Pop: No, well, I’d call it spread betting. And if it gets you moved up by one seat to bask in the light of her glory, then you’re off to the races.
Buddy: But sure there’s only one right answer.
Pop: If that were true, son, people wouldn’t be blowing themselves up all over this town.
Buddy: I think my da wants us to leave Belfast.
Pop: What do you want?
Buddy: Every night, before I go to sleep, when I say my prayers, I ask God if he’d fix it so that when I wake up in the morning, I’m the best footballer in the world. And then I also ask him as well that when I grow up, can I marry Catherine. Even if she loves Ronnie Boyd. But she could still see him, but she’d marry me. That’s what I want.
Granny: Be careful what you wish for. That’s what the minister at the wee mission says.
'If you can't be good, be careful.' - Pa (Belfast) Click To Tweet
Catherine: [to Buddy] Have you gone to the moon yet? Do you want to, with me? It’ll save you getting cold waiting outside our house.
Pa: When did you write to them?
Ma: When the last receipt came through. I knew it was the last one because for three bloody years I’ve been counting them envelopes coming through that door, and there wasn’t so much as a thank you with this one.
Pa: It’s the taxman, for God’s sake. Who do you expect, Father Christmas?
Pa: My mother’s worried about you.
Pop: Your mother’s worried about you.
Pa: [to Buddy] Be good, son. If you can’t be good, be careful.
Pa: You’re going to need to stay away from my family.
Billy Clanton: That’s big talk for a fella who’s never here.
Pa: You can rely on me to be here when it matters.
Billy Clanton: I hope your timing’s good. Things get out of hand pretty quick round these parts.
'All the Irish need to survive is a phone, a Guinness, and the sheet music to Danny Boy.' - Auntie Violet (Belfast) Click To Tweet
Billy Clanton: Do you know the problem with men like you? You think you’re better than the rest of us.
Pa: And the problem with men like you is you know you’re not.
Billy Clanton: We’ll keep it simple. You’re with us, or you’re against us.
Trailer: