Belle and Sebastian (2013)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

A Major Disappointment

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Looking through the reviews I am wondering if I am the only one so far to have seen the original 1965 series. This film is not a remake of that series, there are quite a few changes to the plot and characters. César, Sébastien and the dog Belle remain at the core of both stories however. The series was set in an Alpine village near the French/Italian border where criminals attempt to use Belle to carry secret documents over a mountain pass to Italy. The film in contrast is set in 1943. The French Resistance is involved in guiding Jews to safety into Switzerland.I was uncertain about the war time setting. I would have preferred not to have had Nazis in the film at all. The villain in the 1965 scenario was a crook named Norbert. The film still remains safe family viewing however as the occupying troops are only as menacing as they need to be in order to drive the plot forward. Young viewers understand just enough to know that these are the 'bad men'.The earlier version of César was a strong principled character who supported Sébastien's belief in Belle right from the start. In the film he is a more complex and flawed person with a weakness for alcohol. Likewise, the updated Sébastien seems more mature than the earlier one. This is better as he can react to events without continually repeating the phrase "but I love Belle" all the time. The earlier Angelina was feisty but not as feisty as Margaux Chatelier who follows the modern trend for strong female role models by mucking in with the dangerous work when necessary. It is good to see Mehdi in a minor role as André. Mehdi played the original Sébastien and is the son of Cécile Aubry who wrote and created the TV series.A couple of reviewers have commented on the 'corny' music played during the film. This is in fact the theme tune to the original series and adds a deliberate sentimental link to the earlier show for those that remember it. Non French viewers need to realise that the French have a nostalgic fondness for Cécile Aubry and the children's literature and television series she was associated with in the 1960s and early 70s. Americans go all daft for Lassie, in France it's Poly, Belle Et Sébastien and Le Jeune Fabre.Take the kids to see this at the cinema if you think they are able to cope with subtitles. The mountain scenery is majestic. Don't make the same mistake as my mother and grandmother though. As a child they dragged me off to the flicks to see The Sound Of Music and then Fiddler On The Bloomin Roof. Luckily I recovered.

This film IS unlike most of the films I review IS suitable for Children in fact it is approved by the Dove Foundation as family approved film it is NOT rated by the Motion Picture Association of America so one will have to use their own judgment as to letting ones kid,s watch this film I enjoyed this beyond measure Due to the fact I prefer family films that are non Violent and free of foul langue and Nudity and or sexual content I prefer films that make one thinkThe star of this film who plays SEBASTIAN ( Félix Bossuet) is a very talented young man you could read the emotions in his face that is one mark of a supper actor. this film is Seething with Nazis the foul buggers they were. Please rent this film form your local Library and enjoy with your family God Bless your Friendly Film Reviewer

Belle and Sebastian may also be the name of a band or an appliance brand but this review deals with the recent French film by that name. In it, a boy and his fluffy white dog save Jewish refugees from the Nazi occupation of France by leading them over the French Alps into Switzerland. Why don't the soldiers just follow them into unarmed Switzerland and take back the escapees is a good question for your history teacher. Beyond the honoring of true-life heroic acts taken by the French resistance, the movie is also an excuse to film some stunning visuals in the boy's largely vertical world. Within this world some sad and sophisticated things happen (including a least 2 double-crosses) so clearly this isn't an American children's picture. Some sad stuff happens as well but not as much as you expect for a French film. The acting is overwrought at times but generally very good - the dog is excellent. In short, worth taking your older children to and having them learn something.

Light as a feather and soft as snow, Belle and Sebastian has high production values and attractive shooting locations but it is as forgettable as a made for television special. Set in the French Alps and filmed on real mountains, the only positive attribute of the film are its aesthetic achievements. At the beginning of the film the wide angle shots and open spaces frame a beautiful but ominous cliff face. The director of these shots is Nicolas Vanier who is described as a French "adventurist" and last made Loup in 2009, which was about the Serbian mountain ranges and raising herds of reindeer. Evidently, from his filmography, the subject of this feature, and its emphasis on animals, Vanier loves the wild and nature. Yet there isn't a clear audience for whom he is aiming the film towards. The film is too lightweight for adults and it wouldn't be edgy enough children. The film seems oblivious to how increasingly sophisticated children today are and how desensitized they are to darker material. Films from major mainstream American studios like Pixar have challenged the notion that children's films have to be less intelligent or simplified, while a film like this retreats to warm pleasantries as a means of shadowing its lack of sophistication. The film's archaic form and its wholesomeness can be attributed to the source material which belongs to another era. Vanier is working from French actress Cecile Aubrey children's novel, about a boy and his Pyrenean Mountain Dog and their adventures together. Aubrey adapted her own story into a 1960's television show, which over its thirteen episodes earned a sizeable following and gained universal cultural resonance. A Japanese anime adaptation was developed in the 1980s. Similarly, in France this was the second highest grossing film from last year. It has earned over $33 million dollars globally. Audiences may have responded to Vanier's attempts to reshape the original material. One of the major changes to the film is setting it in WWII. The historical alteration is meant to add tension to the story and to offset the sentimentality of the premise. The imbalance is still jarring because the film preferences its cornball narrative, the friendship between a boy and his dog, while sidelining the far more interesting story of people daringly escaping to Switzerland. We must ask why a narrative that is tedious and schmaltzy conceals and soft-pedals the more serious and important historical component, if only for the sake of being box-office foolproof. Further reiterating the film's old fashioned nature is the simplicity of the plot. Sebastian (Felix Bossuet) has no family, he thinks his mother is in America, and is looked after by Cesar (Tcheky Karyo), a drunken caretaker. Cesar and his friends believe an animal they call the "beast" is dangerous and killing the wildlife. They set traps for the animal and try to hunt it down. Sebastian discovers that, surprise, the beast is a misunderstood dog and after a wash he names him Belle and hides him from Cesar. The film's subplot involves helping people across the mountains to escape to Switzerland and avoid the capture of the Nazis. The generic story recycles tired beats and messages about coming of age, overcoming our fears and loving our enemies. It is an indistinguishable companion to DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon, such is the familiarity of the narrative and how stock standard and unsurprising the characters are. Even the threat of the Third Reich brings little menace. Some might faintly praise the film for its gentility, compared to mainstream entertainment, which does little to excuse some laughably corny scenes like Belle running in slow-motion while a children's song is played over the soundtrack. What has happened to the French cinema of the past, where tough films with something to say were made, compared to the post- Amelie period of light, mass appealing crowd-pleasers? And since when does France adopt the lazy Hollywood model of refurnishing old, safe ideas, rather than challenging us with daring new ones?