A tale as old as time, beauty and the beast, finds its latest retelling in writer and director Mamoru Hosoda’s (Summer Wars, Mirai) BELLE. While BELLE made its world premiere at 2021 Cannes Film Festival, it didn’t make its way to be widely viewable in the states until January, after being licensed by GKIDS. This timely take on Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve’s classic sees our protagonist find a following in a virtual reality world where she battles her traumas and insecurities, is harassed by internet trolls, and ultimately meets Dragon, a beast in this digital world. This review is based on viewings with the original Japanese audio with English subtitles.
“Welcome to the world of U.” U is another reality that has acquired over 5 billion registered users through the promise of starting a new life and changing the world. Users have a mobile app and special earbuds that employ the latest “body sharing technology” to engulf users into a virtual reality. Users have avatars, dubbed AS, generated from AI, based on one image of the user, though many users still appear as creatures, rather than human-like. These avatars take the greatest strengths of the users and amplify them. The virtual reality of U is full of vibrant colors and 3D, CGI scenery.
This is in stark contrast with the real world around Suzu, a school girl and our protagonist. She wears a plain white top with a navy skirt to school each day. A thin red tie is the uniform’s only pop of color. She is an awkward girl who struggles growing up without her mother, who died in a river after saving a small child during a storm when Suzu was young. It has a draining impact on her relationship with her father and keeps her from having many friends at school. Other than time with her friend Hiro, her only social activity is singing with a small women’s choir group that her mother was a part of. However, between anxiety and associating singing with the traumatic memory of losing her mother, she isn’t able to sing outside of that group, even when she’s alone.
That changes when Hiro invites Suzu to join U. After uploading a group photo that she was pressured into being a part of, she doesn’t recognize the beautiful avatar, which is generated in her likeness, until freckles are added. She names this avatar Bell, which is what her name, “Suzu,” means. Bell appears in U in a busy area that many are passing through. She finds herself able to sing, and sing very well, but she is met with mixed reviews by the passers by. She does gain one follower, an angel bat, and Hiro follows her shortly after. Feeling empowered by being able to sing, albeit hidden behind a digital avatar, Suzu is more confident in her everyday life, and she continues to sing regularly in U.
Bell’s incredible singing and original songs earn her a following so quickly that TikTok influencers would be jealous. This fandom decides to call her “BELLE”, which is French for “beautiful.” With help from Hiro, she puts on grand productions, often incorporating flying whales and extravagant outfits, all while remaining anonymous. Speculation about her true identity becomes leading news in the real world as she starts topping music charts with her original music. Her popularity continues to soar until one of her concerts is interrupted by Dragon, or “The Beast.” She is instantly fascinated with him and wants to learn his identity. She tracks him down in his castle, complete with roses, and feels a connection with him. He is covered in bruise-like markings and behaves erratically, but he shows a caring side as well.
As Bell gets to know Dragon, a manhunt ensues, orchestrated by self-appointed moderators who want to “unveil” him, or reveal his real identity. Through the confidence gained as Bell, Suzu is able to make more friends in the real world and show others the kindness that her mother raised her with, all while gaining influence within U.
The virtual reality of U is colorful with deep scenery, made with CGI. This intentionally contrasts the real world. There are the plain school uniforms, but many of the buildings are also plain, with sparse furniture and muted colors. This makes U all the more appealing to each user. However, the commentary on people’s drive to find what seems better at a glance goes a step further, making nature in the real world quite majestic, with handmade imagery, available to those who look past the phones in front of them to appreciate what is actually there. Both these worlds, however, are absolutely beautiful and charming in their own ways, and that’s no surprise. Talented companies like Madhouse, who also animated director Hosoda’s Wolf Children as well as other major productions such as One-Punch Man and Death Note, worked on animation. Production was also assisted by major studios such as MAPPA (Jujutsu Kaisen and Attack on Titan The Final Season) as well as Production I.G (Haikyu!!). The worlds are also brought together by an incredible soundtrack composed by Taisei Iwasaki, Ludvig Forssell, Yuta Bandoh, and Millennium Parade.
This iteration of Beauty and the Beast is so relevant with what is going on in the world today. U is, in many ways, what Facebook’s Metaverse hopes to be. Suzu faces internet trolls that say unreasonably mean things about her indisputably beautiful singing voice (sang by Kaho Nakamura, who also voiced all of Suzu and Bell’s lines). Many people attempt to be influencers, similar to how we see people use TikTok. However, the story itself is timeless. Suzu’s original songs feel like they are written for the listener, as noted by her many fans. We see her face traumatic loss, as well as struggles we all face as we grow. This coming of age film also sees a diverse cast of characters come together to find their way and try to make life better for themselves and others. BELLE finds its way into your heart and sings you a song that makes you feel heard.
8/10