Belfast, Maine is a film about ordinary experience in a beautiful old New England port city. It is a portrait of daily life with particular emphasis on the work and the cultural life of the community. Among the activities shown in the film are the work of lobstermen, tug-boat operators, factory workers, shop owners, city counselors, doctors, judges, policemen, teachers, social workers, nurses, and ministers. Cultural activities include choir rehearsal, dance class, music lessons and theatre production.

Suffused with a valedictory feel that is part timing, part subject matter, Frederick Wiseman's Belfast, Maine stands with the very best of the documentary dean's substantial body of work, a shrewd and meticulous late-October look at the various cells of the living organism that is this small New England port town.