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Review - Bella |
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Bella (One Moment Can Change
Your Life Forever)
Movie review by Tom Gilbert
— June, 2008
Metanoia Films
www.bellamoviesite.com
Written and directed by Alejandro Monteverde
 Things
happen to everyone in life. Some of what happens to us
can be sudden and life changing. How we deal with loss,
grief, tragedy and change is often the measure of our
faith.
In the beautiful film,
Bella, we have the story of two people.
Nina (played by Tammy Blanchard), is a waitress who gets
fired for showing up late two days in a row. As she had
also called in sick one day the week before her boss thinks
she has been drinking too much and showing up hung over.
So he fires her. The truth is she’s pregnant and
as a young, single and now unemployed woman she’s
distraught and looking at abortion as a solution..
At this same restaurant the chief cook, and brother of
the boss, Jose (played by Eduardo Verastegui) has struggled
with a past event that greatly altered his life. He was
once a promising soccer player about to sign a contract
for over two million dollars when in one sudden accident
his life was forever changed (I won’t reveal the
details so as not to spoil the story).
The movie is a tale of wounded hearts, personal crises
and ultimately redemption by celebrating life, love and
understanding.
It is rare for a young movie maker, Alejandro Monteverde,
who wrote and directed Bella, to create such a powerfully
moving film that is also technically brilliant. I was
impressed with everything about this small, independent
film. I was especially struck by the story, because it
is about faith, compassion and helping others. The characters
are real. The portrayal of Latinos is not cliché
or stereotyped. There is good and there is also humanity.
In other words, we also see human shortcomings and that
allows us to see ourselves in this picture. We all make
mistakes, we all struggle and we all need help.
Despite an unimpressive theatrical
run, this movie has been widely acclaimed (winner of the
People's Choice Award at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival),
and rightly so. It is now doing well in DVD release and
rated #1 at Yahoo and Fandango. In religious circles it
has been praised, yet it is not a preachy or even evangelistic
film in the sense we’ve come to expect. When Nina
states she plans to abort her child Jose doesn’t
argue with her or condemn her choice. It’s clear
he doesn’t want her to go through with the abortion,
but he shows compassion and concern. He asks if she’s
considered adoption as an option. He cares for her and
spends time with her (at the expense of his own job).
He takes her to meet his family and she shares in a meal.
There she experiences love as well as the drama and humor
often found in such a gathering.
I hope you see this movie. And it would be wonderful if
more movies like this are made. Metanoia Films made this
movie and it is the dream-come-true from the commitment
of Alejandro Monteverde, Eduardo Verastegui and Columbian
producer Leo Severino, as well as support from other like-minded
believers, including entrepreneur and producer Sean Wolfington
(see
here). It gives us hope that movies can be a vehicle
of quality art and powerful messages of faith, courage
and love.
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Scripture taken from the
Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright ©
1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights
reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International
Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered
trademarks of International Bible Society. Use of either
trademark for the offering of goods or services requires
the prior written consent of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy
Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used
by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton,
IL 60189, USA. All rights reserved.
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