A Million Bricks

Built in the early 1960s to accommodate an increasing demand for low-cost housing, the community of Springfield in West Belfast, Ireland was by all measures modest: tidy streets lined with nondescript, red brick row houses with small gardens out front. To the young working class families lucky enough to buy into this tract, however, Springfield was paradise--a chance to escape the bleak tenements and crowded city streets. Not only that, Springfield was a mixed-sectarian community in which Catholics and Protestants lived in remarkable harmony, united by a simple desire to live in the best housing in an affordable neighborhood. This miraculous peace was fated to last less than a decade. By the late 1960s, with IRA activity intensifying in Belfast, Springfield residents couldn't help but see the storm clouds on the horizon. In August 1971, the storm broke: caught in the middle of violent three-way armed skirmishes between neighboring Loyalist and Republican neighborhoods and the British Army, the blissful life of Springfield was replaced by shrapnel, smoke, and death. The "million bricks" of the title refers to the massive "peace" wall subsequently built to separate Catholic and Protestant neighbors in Springfield. Filmmakers Frank Martin and Seamus Kelters rely primarily on interviews with ex-residents to paint a poignant picture of life in Springfield before and after "The Troubles," yet while the material is generally effective in conveying the history of this remarkable community, the frequently impenetrable Belfastian brogue of the subjects often seriously mires this story. There are also patches of perplexing amateurishness in direction, including the repeated use of stop-motioned G.I. dolls to make a point about the experiences of Springfield's children, and jarringly poor decisions about background music (Thus Spoke Zarathustra!). Despite these shortcomings, this would still be a useful addition to larger collections with interest in current Irish history (or urban planning). Aud: H, C, P. (G. Handman)