Belle: Film Review

A screenshot taken from ‘Belle’ during the film’s third act. Credit: Studio Chizu

‘Belle’ is a 2022 animated feature film that was released in the UK on limited cinema viewings. Which likely meant a sardined theatre experience full of anime fans, expecting the next Hosada work to be a masterpiece brimming with humanity and a confetti shower of animation.

The film was heavily advertised on its visual and musical appeal, its trailer showing off the contrasting art styles between a whirlwind, abstract virtual reality that’s very reminiscent of Director Mamoru Hosada’s previous works, and reality. All the while, the film’s main theme “Gales of Song” trickles in from the background.

Any long-time anime fans would likely remember ‘Wolf Children’, ‘The Girl Who Leapt Through Time’ and, more relevantly, ‘Summer Wars’. And ‘Belle’ very much incorporates all the greater details that gave those movies their identity: the warm visuals, exploration of internet culture and virtual reality, themes surrounding family, and an ending that doesn’t insist two main characters should be romantically involved by the end.

The unique setting revolves around a modern day where virtual reality technology is at its peak, introducing a fictional app named “U” where anyone can logon as an avatar, full sensory functions included. The best comparison in western culture would be ‘Ready Player One’, or VR chat without the rampant chaos or dead internet humour. The idea behind “U” is that it registers an individual’s psyche and creates an avatar based on their better selves, or something to that effect. The world building is underbaked in places, but more on that later.

‘U’ by Millennium Parade is our introductory song to this virtual world—it’s fast and upbeat and brimming with life as it explores feeling belonging in the digital world, where reality doesn’t quite make us feel comfortable in our own skin.

As for the story and the core setting in relation to the themes and significant characters, we follow Suzu, a 17-year-old high school girl living in the backwater of Japan’s countryside. It’s established early-on that Suzu became drawn to music from a young age through her late mother. After she passed during a devastating flood, Suzu’s confidence dropped significantly, as did her ability to sing. She became introverted and is shown on several occasions to struggle making social connections, even with people she was close to in the past.

When the world of “U” becomes more known within her small countryside town, Suzu decides to make an account on a whim. To her surprise, the app images her avatar a woman of unique beauty—its only real resemblance to the real Suzu being her freckles. She names this avatar “Bell”, which means “Suzu” in English. Upon entering the virtual world for the first time, she rediscovers her singing voice and quickly becomes a unique performance icon across a platform of five billion people, to be renamed “Belle”, which means “beautiful” in French. Though, of course, none of the other “U” users know her true identity.

During a concert in “U” she encounters The Beast, a monstrous avatar with unmatched strength and a severe temper, after he disrupts her performance to fight this world’s version of the “Cyber Police.” Suzu is immediately fascinated by this persona and comes to learn there is more to him than rage and the mysterious bruises cloaking his back.  

So it’s a retelling of classic Beauty and The Beast with a modern, digital reality twist. That was obvious from the word “Belle.” For the narrative the film is trying to tell, it works well without copying the Disney classic or the original French fairy-tale beat-by-beat. It very much adopts its own identity while paying homage to a beloved piece of literature and cinema.

That being said, Hosada has always had a talent for creating very human stories in an otherwise fantastical setting. Case in point: the strain of single motherhood while raising human-wolf hybrid children in ‘Wolf Children’; learning that the past cannot be fixed and mistakes are a natural part of growing up, featuring time travel that’s triggered by jumping from really high places in ‘The Girl Who Leapt Through Time’, etc.

‘Belle’ incorporates themes of persona, adorning masks that make us feel better about ourselves, that allow us a chance to be sociable, to be talented, to be strong, to improve, to be normal. All the while internet and social media culture is flagged down as being unduly judgemental and cruel due to the freedom of anonymity. That’s not to say the creator demonises social media—there’s no obnoxious messaging about why the internet is the devil incarnate—which has become an easy grab for the majority of post-modern sci-fi filmmakers. There’s an admiration for technological progression tailored within the worldbuilding—aspirations for what could be in store for the future of virtual reality.

The world of “U” isn’t fleshed out in its entirety, however. In order to pedal the story’s momentum, there isn’t a lot about this virtual universe that’s explored in great detail, unlike in ‘Ready Player One’ where the concept of the Oasis is given dimension with the many worlds and locations avatars can venture. There’s only so much we know about the scale of “U” by the film’s end—but that could be chalked-up to the writer’s desire to focus more time on the characters and their respective arcs.

The film only depicts what it feels is necessary and accurate in regards to online interaction, how people catch onto trends, and how anonymity gives us the ability to move the goalposts on our opinions and feelings when convenient. Which isn’t an easy feat when you’re trying to reasonably flesh out the speech and behaviours of a primarily teenage demographic.

There’s a subtle recurring anxiety, or downright fear, among the characters on exposing their vulnerabilities to others. Several notable characters harbour secrets they struggle to tell--or can’t share knowing it will worsen their circumstances. Those already in the public eye, such as the story’s fictional celebrities, are either heavily scrutinised for being closed-off in their private life, or their secrets, once revealed, are monopolised for clout.

Whereas the main cast we follow—the teenagers and children of this nowhere countryside town--are always struggling with interpersonal relationships to varying degrees; whether that’s confessing romantic feelings, wanting to reinstate a close friendship that’s grown distant over time, struggling to communicate with a parent after the loss of another, or dealing with severe abuse behind closed doors.

‘Belle’s’ soundtrack is so significant in this regard—the unique songs Suzu writes for herself are of thematic importance; she expresses her most fundamental feelings through music within “U”. “A Million Miles Away” is sung in order to reach out to another character who doesn’t quite trust Suzu yet, while the lyrics themselves spill out feelings of missing her mother—whom she never talks about to her friends or even her father.  

Side note, but the filmmakers went through great effort to record an English version of Suzu’s songs for the dub. That isn’t the norm in televised anime, as the Japanese version of songs generally remain the same in all adaptations, with few recent exceptions. The Japanese version is performed by singer-songwriter Kaho Nakamura, and the English version is performed by debuting actress and singer Kylie McNeil. Both are amazing in their respective versions.

The visuals are likely what drew audiences in when the initial trailer dropped. As per all of Hosada’s previous films, the colour palette and visuals in the “real world” are warm and natural—character designs and proportions never stretch far from realism. In contrast, the world of “U” is abstract and bright and colourful and full of impossible things. Belle is an exaggeration of beauty compared to the average and plain Suzu, while The Beast is depicted as a giant, cloaked dragon compared to his true self in the real world.

‘Belle’ is a film that, despite being based on a classic, still manages to surprise you. Based on the experience of sitting in that packed cinema alone, two occasions stood out in particular. About halfway through the runtime, the entire theatre laughed for a good minute, twice, due to two separate moments involving the same character. ‘Belle’ isn’t categorised as a comedy—it never dared the audience to laugh, but we were treated to something genuine and fun and lovable for a character whose screen time was scant but pleasant.

There’s a myriad of details unnoticed on an initial viewing, but after a second watch there’s a lot leftover that this film offers. ‘Belle’ is a film that provides a digestible outlook on virtual reality and internet culture, it tells the story of ordinary people struggling to be when the real world is unfair or the people in it act distant or cruel, it’ll cause shivers, it’ll make you cry, and it’ll give you two good laughs—you’ll know them when the moment trickles in like a tide on a clear day.