BELLE Cinema Screening Review

Ok-I just saw Belle a few hours ago. First I've gotta say that I have mixed feelings about Mamoru Hosoda's films, I don't hate them but don't particularly like them either. I like Makoto Shinkai's films a lot more. I think that Hosoda recycles too many themes and ideas in his films-I'd rate Belle 6 1/2 out of a possible 10 points. At least they got an english va who can actually sing for Belle/Suzu.

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I like Hosoda's early films, but I was let down by Boy and the Beast and Mirai, which suffered by only having Hosoda handle the writing. IMO, he works best with a good collaborator like Reiko Yoshida or Satoko Okudera
 
Went to watch Belle tonight at showcase in the xplus screen.. but there were no subtitles so I let the staff know within the first minute of the film.. after 20 mins, still no subs and many others had let the staff know the issue.. they restarted the film in the wrong aspect ratio and still no subs.. now I'm waiting to get a refund, the manager said it's because they were sent the wrong version, without subs (I work in a cinema so I think it's because the subtitle engine wasn't turned on).. very disappointed..
 
Birdie Num Num said:
Went to watch Belle tonight at showcase in the xplus screen.. but there were no subtitles so I let the staff know within the first minute of the film.. after 20 mins, still no subs and many others had let the staff know the issue.. they restarted the film in the wrong aspect ratio and still no subs.. now I'm waiting to get a refund, the manager said it's because they were sent the wrong version, without subs (I work in a cinema so I think it's because the subtitle engine wasn't turned on).. very disappointed..
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That's why I always make it a point to see anime at the theater dubbed (if it is dubbed) and not subbed.
 
I saw this earlier today. I liked it well enough, but I felt like the story of child abuse didn't quite gel with the rest of the film. And what did Belle do, other than hug them? It was a weird road to go down.
 
Stunning visually and audibly, but whilst it had some good heartfelt moments at falls apart a bit at the end.

Yami said:
I saw this earlier today. I liked it well enough, but I felt like the story of child abuse didn't quite gel with the rest of the film. And what did Belle do, other than hug them? It was a weird road to go down.
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Yeah it felt so low stakes as well compared to, say, Summer Wars. Why did she not use her influence as Belle to find the kids? I'm sure they would have been found in minutes with peoples help! But they managed to solve the location from a load of deus ex machina BS and then when she turned up not only had they managed to escape, but they also didn't have a scratch on them! And then like you said the big bad bully of a dad just suddenly crumbled because she stood in front of them. I guess if she had used her "online fame" to save them you couldn't say "look she's grown as a person".
Man I was going to save that for the Hosoda Marathon thread when I write my thoughts tomorrow, but had to get that out while fresh in my mind.
 
Good film, but like others have commented I think that the final 15-20 minutes get away from themselves. I definitely didn't like the resolution for the kids since the dad crumbling under the pressure of Suzu made no sense and it feels like Suzu didn't accomplish anything from going there since we never saw what happened to them afterwards. I also agree there were better ways to both find and deal with the kid's storyline. Honestly, if the film had ended with the concert toward the end and they'd done the beasts storyline differently, it would have been a much better film overall.

Really, this one just falls into the same traps as most of Hosoda's other films. He has no idea how to end them and because of that, they get silly and nonsensical. But I still enjoyed it, so I'm happy enough.
 
Yami said:
I saw this earlier today. I liked it well enough, but I felt like the story of child abuse didn't quite gel with the rest of the film. And what did Belle do, other than hug them? It was a weird road to go down.
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That's my major issue with the film.
The first two acts are great but the final one tries very clumsily to address a serious topic. Suzu goes alone, spooks the dad a bit, hugs the boys...and then what? There's no closure to it. I get that Hosoda is trying to connect it to how her mother sacrificed herself but it's just overtly clumsy, especially in what is otherwise a feel good movie. You can't phone something that serious in. What became of the brothers afterwards? They even say authority figures locally have consistently failed to protect them.
 
Put my main thoughts in the Hosoda Marathon thread but I loved this film. His best since Summer Wars for me. The feeling about the ending most people here have I didn't have at all. I was so immersed in what was happening that I bought and loved it all. It was Suzos story after all and the film focused on that and her point of view on events. So for me it all worked.
 
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