Review of Bella (2006) by Steven H — 20 Nov 2008

[i]Bella[/i] is a story of redemption and renewal. It is an at times profound, but too often blatantly obvious, effort. It is also a simple story that at times becomes a bit hard to follow. And this is not because much of it switches into Spanish. The difficulty comes due to chronological leaps that seem contrived for the purpose of throwing off the viewer in hopes of a surprise ending, leaps that thus attain only questionable artistic value. But this is not the film's biggest flaw.

There are minimal cultural issues raised, instead the director guides through the all-too-human brokenness of various individuals. This at times can be beautiful. Sadly the symbolism tends to be thrown at you in obvious ways. This is the film's biggest flaw. The most clear examples: The main character, Jose, played by Eduardo Verastegui is an almost insultingly blatant Jesus figure. You caught the beard and hair, did you also catch the fact he is wearing what amounts to a white robe for most of the movie? Or, for that matter, that his entire story is one of atonement? Adding injury to insult, our secondary main character, played by Tammy Blanchard has a bathtub baptismal scene (complete with full immersion) which precedes a meal together at a long table where all differences are reconciled. Characters are forced to melt down before coming out as their true selves, all while the butterfly motif pervades the film, painfully reminding us that the characters have to transform.

All this is not to say the movie is not good. The acting is solid, with very believable performances by everyone involved, although it can at times seem over the top. Humor lightens up the mood in various scenes that touch us in their humanity. All of this is praiseworthy. The story, however, is rather simple, and the ending all too neat. But this is not a bad movie, and the uplifting resolution of the symbols, expected or not, is emotionally rewarding. [i]Bella[/i] certainly deserves a viewing.