Hosoda’s take on Beauty and the Beast is nothing short of sensational…
Mamoru Hosoda became a notable name for me in 2000 with Digimon: The Movie, which I think is still one of his best. The quality of animation, as well as the compelling and heart-pounding narrative, made it instantly a personal favourite. Recognized as an inarguable talent for his Digimon work, he was then lined up to direct a feature at Ghibli. Although Hosoda’s work didn’t find the green light at Miyazaki’s irreverent company, instead in 2001 he moved to anime studio Madhouse, another personal favourite. It was there that Hosoda completed The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars, which were both very well received, the latter even winning several festival awards. In 2011 he would leave Madhouse to create his own studio, which began producing one strong film after the next, including Mirai which was nominated for an Academy Award.
His newest feature Belle is by far his biggest yet, bringing in animators from Disney and Cartoon Saloon, to work with his own already very capable Studio Chizu. The result is one of the more visually stimulating worlds I have seen in ages. “U” is a digital universe where you can fly around as avatars and live out your wildest dreams. For the film’s protagonist Suzu, voiced by first-timer Kaho Nakamura, her dream is merely to gain enough confidence to sing again. She finds that as her avatar in a digital world she suddenly can sing in front of others without much issue, inadvertently becoming the platform’s biggest star Belle. Everything changes when she is almost kidnapped by “U”’s Arena Champion Dragon, who is voiced masterfully by Takeru Satoh (Rurouni Kenshin, Kamen Rider Den-O, Inuyashiki). After the attempted kidnapping of the beautiful Belle, what proceeds is anything but a typical retelling of Beauty and the Beast. The story surprised me even more than the film’s revolutionary visuals.
Hosoda is proving with Belle that he is in the same conversation as Ghibli, the very studio who turned him away, as being one of the more prominent Japanese animators in modern feature film. To my knowledge, he doesn’t really make bad films, and if Belle is any indications he is simply getting better. Kaho Nakamura’s voice and the song arrangements are truly wonderful. I think the reason this film works is that the talent in the musical aspects, the visual arrangements, and the depth of the story really do deserve the sort of awe that the characters often exhibit. When the characters are crying so are you, when they are cheering so are you etc. The script also features some fairly understated and impressively acted real-world interactions which tie the film together in a way that prevents it from being overstimulating. All in all, I think Belle could simply be setting the standard for anime features, and international animation collaborations more generally, for years to come.
Belle is released in UK cinemas from 4 February by Anime Ltd, with previews from 1 February. Find a screening near you.
Main image: ©2021 STUDIO CHIZU
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