A visual, poetic depiction of Belfast and its citizens, told with love and passion of someone, who has left the city many years ago but is still fascinated by it. Themes brought up in the film range from the landscapes surrounding the city, its changing architecture and social structure to the political and personal repercussions of the Northern Irish conflict.
Cousins has always found awe and wonder in the everyday world around him, but this dreamy love letter is one of his most polished and beguiling efforts.
Visually striking and touchingly sincere, this moving mosaic lacks the trenchancy to match its assured sense of place.
Cousins doesn’t ignore the bloodshed and sectarian violence (the pub bombings, the killings, the evictions) in the city’s recent past but he also has a genius for finding the poetry and humour in everyday street scenes.
This wonderfully inventive meditation on director Mark Cousins’s hometown is refreshingly uncynical and pithy.
Mark Cousins indulges his penchant for the unpredictable in a quirky and poetic portrait of Northern Ireland’s capital.
How cinema helped Belfast--and vice versa
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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