***** (Five stars)
The great contemporary theme is, we have said it many times in this small but profitable space, the status of reality. In the world of metaverse (and that we Argentines live quite accustomed to meta and meta verse), at the time in which Matrix it is already reality, one wonders what myths, what traditions still have weight, if our life would not change absolutely when we can decide to live in the sensible world or in a virtual construction.
belle is the story of Beauty and the Beast adapted to these times: there is a girl who, in the virtual universe, is a pop idol with five billion followers, and in that universe she finds her “Beast”. It is the starting point of this anime that not only is amazing in terms of graphic invention Y narrative complexity (without this implying rubbish: everything is clearly understood although each character has more than two dimensions) but that nothing that appears beautiful on the screen is free.
What the film does is not adapt a story to contemporary times, but rather ask about the relevance of its ultimate meaning. And he tells us that yes, that it is still pertinent, that no layer of technology can deal with the story of accepting our irrational part to be, paradoxically, human.
OK, if you’re not convinced by this, just go see one of the best movies of 2022 by far, and we know that there are 11 months to go.
