Bella Review

• 9th Feb 2011

Bella is a beautifully shot, meandering, slice of life, indie movie. From a hectic start it doesn’t allow itself to follow the usual paths: it doesn’t blossom into a romance and although there is a trip, it falls short of a road movie. The movie doesn’t fit easily into a genre, much like real life, but it still doesn’t feel like anything new.

The narrative basically follows a day which starts with waitress Nina (Tammy Blanchard) finding out she is pregnant. She is then late for work and consequently fired from her job at a Mexican restaurant. The chef, Jose (Eduardo Verástegui) follows Nina without letting anyone know, causing minor family strife (as his brother runs the restaurant), not to mention chaos at the lunch sitting.

The acting in Bella cannot be faulted. Eduardo Verástegui is compelling as Jose, all blue eyes buried in lots of hair and Tammy Blanchard is believable and low-key as Nina. As we follow the characters their pasts are slowly revealed, although we learn comparatively little about Nina. We all know the how of getting pregnant, but a little more of the circumstances might have established her character’s predicament better.

Jose had been a promising footballer on the way to sign a million dollar contract several years prior to the events of the movie, when he was involved in an accident that altered the course of his life. The ending of the movie, abrupt as it is, becomes a kind of redemption for his past.

The chef’s family are concerned about him and this shows when Jose takes Nina to visit his family. His younger brother bringing home a girlfriend to meet his parents for the first time adds a pleasant diversion. His father has never learnt English so there are subtitles for about a quarter of the movie.

When the movie first came out it divided audiences and critics, winning a People’s Choice Award at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, yet being slated by critics who thought the audiences were just desperate for something of an urban fairytale. The film also won numerous awards for its representation of Latino culture as well as support from pro-life groups.

Karen Self