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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
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Food for Thought
I have not been a fan of independent films, but this one is an exception. It is more complex than a typical Hollywood film, so much richer in its content. Family themes and cultural settings were well done. The story of pain and redemption, the fragility and preciousness of life, all weave a beautiful storyline. Our DVD scrambled up the last 10 minutes, and we were trying to figure out the possible ending scenarios as we fought with the machine. This is not a predictable ending, nor an ending that neatly ties up all the loose ends and is happily ever after. Realistic and inspiring.
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A touching story, brilliantly portrayed!
"Bella" is one of those movies that make you want to believe in goodness of people and the purpose of life. It may move you to tears, or not - but what's certain is that you won't get away unaffected.
The story of a soccer star, whose career ends before it begins, and of the NY waitress, who is left to face the music alone by her boyfriend when she becomes pregnant, is captured brilliantly in this movie. The shots capture the poignance of the moment in the movie, and in fact, at times, capture the myriad colors that life has to offer us. When Jose's soccer dreams are crashed by an unexpected event, he loses all his life's passion, and ends up being a reserved-but-extremely-respected chef in his brother Manny's restaurant in NY. There, he meets Nina, who is a waitress in the same restaurant, and the two are good friends.
One fine day, things just begin to break down for Nina, and seeing her in distress, Jose reaches out to her, and bonds instantly. However, this is where I must put on record my disagreement with the movie. The kind of bonding that Jose enjoys with Nina in a day, while entirely possible, is the less convincing, primarily because of the little background shown about the two characters before the particular day. With each passing moment, we are made to realize how otherwise close these two actually are. While it doesn't take anything from the movie, it certainly takes away a little attention which would otherwise go to marvel at the magnificient story-telling of the movie.
Be that as it may, what transpires in that day in Jose's and Nina's life makes them both happy, and in the long run, gives them a purpose for life itself.
Most of us go through life without realizing that it is our only chance at being happy, and that happiness might not always come from expeted quarters or directions only. It's our sole responsibility to seek out our happiness, and reward ourselves with it. "Bella" seeks to reinforce this adage, and encourages to seek out happiness, not just for ourselves but for those beloved to us.
My favorite moment: TOW the street peddlar is selling an origami creation to Nina, and when she says she doesn't have any money, he simply asks her to describe the buautiful day to him; only then does Nina (and the audience) realize that he is blind, but ever eager to savor life's rainbows.
Overall Rating: 4 / 5
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The Passion to Play
Director Alejandro Moteverde keeps the pace slow and meditative. Sometimes one incident can change your whole life. It can happen in a split second before you've even realized the implications. Jose played by Eduardo Verastegui who was in "Chasing Papi" in 2003 does an excellent job. We see him first looking almost homeless, ragged enough to make a parent get his children away from him. As the story unfolds and we learn what happened on the day he went to sign his big soccer contract, we see the world shift. The father describes how one needs passion to play soccer. Clearly, the experience Jose went through has drained him.
Then we join him on the job as a chef working for his brother Manny. Manny is played by Manny Perez, who has a rough exterior, all business, and not very kind to his employees. Nina is a waitress and has been absent, experiencing the effect of pregnancy. Manny fires her, not knowing the story. Jose befriends her. "Bella" is basically a film about their day together. Jose takes Nina to his home. Nina is played by Tammy Blanchard who played Judy Garland in a movie of the week and appeared in The Good Shepherd (Widescreen Edition). She does an excellent job as the waitress, feeling a thousand pressures as she tries to earn her way in New York City. Angelica Aragon who played with Anthony Quinn & Keeanu Reeves in A Walk in the Clouds plays Jose's mother. Ramon Rodriguez plays his little brother Eduardo. Ultimately, this is a film that supports adoptive parents and speaks of compassion and understanding as qualities as vital to life as air, food & shelter. This is a film that puts a smile on your face, not a perfect ending, but a very satisfying one. I can see why this won the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. Enjoy!
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Suave, doce e autêntico
Every once in a while a film comes along that sucks you into it so completely that you forget that you are watching a movie. None of the lines are forced, none of the "action" defies real life, none of the emotion contrived. This was almost like watching a docudrama, but the pace, the mood and feel were so gentile, loving, sweet yet authentic that it was like being a fly on the wall to two people confronting their own individual grief over mistakes made and consequences to be faced for an undetermined amount of time. Can life ever be right again? This movie argues as emphatically as a butterfly can that life can be renewed if real love and virtue are the next steps, whether the circumstances or consequences of our self made tragedies ever change. As Spike Lee once noted, "Do the right thing? That's it?!?" "That's it!" I kept waiting for this film to veer off course. For me, it never did. I can't think of a better film in my lifetime. And not that I ever want to see it, but I imagine an ending of happily ever after for the haunted man and the woman who just wanted a real father for her child and a husband that she could love and trust for the rest of her life with that child. This movie was bellísimo.
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Heartfelt Story
Bella is a heartfelt story in which the lives of a waitress (Tammy Blanchard), and a cook (Eduardo Versategui) are meshed together. The cook has a dark past he isn't to grips with just yet. They are both struggling to make sense of the world, and as they are brought together, they find solace in one another.
I came upon this film when searching Netflix for something to watch. It was available on Instant Play, so it was watched. Eduardo Versategui, whom I've never heard of before, was wonderfully affected in this role. His cool calm character has a haunting past that you can see in his eyes at all times. White Tammy Blanchard was a bit too brash for my tastes, it isn't a love story, so it does help with the plotline. This is a touching and sweet story that had me crying, at least once.
