From the director of
Mirai (
未来のミライ) comes
Belle (
竜とそばかすの姫). This Japanese animated science fantasy film written and directed by Mamoru Hosoda and produced by Studio Chizu. It is inspired by the 1756 French fairy tale
Beauty and the Beast by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. Suzu, is a seventeen-year old high school girl, who lives in the countryside of Kochi Prefecture with her father, after losing her mother at a young age. She loves singing with her mother more than anything else, but as a result of her mother’s death was no longer able to sing. It wasn’t long before she and her father grew more and more distant from each other, and Suzu closed her heart to the rest of the world. When Suzu felt that writing music was her only purpose left in life, she then discovers the massive online space known as "U," where she takes on her persona, Belle. Suzu quickly realizes that when she is inside "U" as her avatar, Belle, she can sing quite naturally. As she continues to showcase her own music in the virtual world, she fast becomes the rising star of "U." Nonetheless, that surprise is short-lived. Suddenly, a mysterious dragon-shaped creature appears before her…
Hosoda initially intended for Belle to be a musical, but considered the idea difficult due to Japan not having a culture of making musicals. However, he still wanted music to be central to the film, so he searched for a protagonist that could sing. He stated that he preferred the same person doing both speaking and singing voices to make it convincing, and searched for a singer who could express their feelings though song and move people, even if they don't understand Japanese. He then found Kaho Nakamura, whom he considered relatively unknown, but a perfect choice for the role. Hosoda stated that Nakamura was also involved in writing lyrics, so she could feel the lyrics she was singing.
The film stars the voice talents of Kaho Nakamura, Takeru Satoh, Kōji Yakusho, Lilas Ikuta, Ryō Narita, Shōta Sometani, Tina Tamashiro, Toshiyuki Morikawa, Fuyumi Sakamoto, Kenjiro Tsuda, Mami Koyama, Mamoru Miyano, Michiko Shimizu, Ryoko Moriyama, Sachiyo Nakao, Yoshimi Iwasaki, Sumi Shimamoto and Ken Ishiguro. Thanks to the strong performances given by the cast, the characters are entirely credible and likable, the simply drawn figures highly effective against the lush background artwork. The virtual world has rarely seemed so joyous.
The film reflects the passage of categories in search of universality without forgetting to leave a space for fantasy in the everyday. That's the Hosoda touch. An enjoyably trippy Japanese animated feature from director Mamoru Hosoda, the film combines real-world drama (school crushes, testy relatives) with virtual-world dramatics. I didn't know everything about all of the previous incarnations and/or source materials, but I flat-out love this movie. It's "deliberately paced" rather than slow, and beautiful rather than flashy.
Simon says Belle (竜とそばかすの姫) receives:
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