Not to be confused with some kind of band biopic, Belle & Sebastian is an adaptation of the much-loved 1965 French children’s book of the same name. The film tells the story of Sebastian, played by Félix Bossuet, a six-year-old boy living in the French Alps during WWII, and the friendship that he strikes up with a wild dog that he names Belle.
Belle & Sebastian is basically as adorable as it sounds. Sebastian and Belle are “orphans of the storm”, struggling against townspeople who believe that this wild dog has been killing their sheep (and who consequently want her dead), fighting against the elements in the Alps, and all this with a few Nazis thrown in to add to the tension. But instead of becoming a war film in the traditional sense, Belle & Sebastian sticks to being a dog movie, and a very good one at that.
Director Nicolas Vanier’s previous experience has been as an explorer and a documentary filmmaker, specialising in nature documentaries, and this experience shines through on both counts. Vanier’s fondness for wildlife is clear throughout the film – beyond just the character of Belle – and the film’s cinematography really takes advantage of the amazing scenery of the Alps, with much mountaineering and long-distance skiing along the way.
Belle & Sebastian definitely has the potential to be insanely cheesy, and while it is a little, it kind of fits (aside from the song that Sebastian sings to Belle halfway through, which is a little jarring). It’s a great-looking movie and a really lovely story, and if anybody manages to leave the cinema after this without wanting to adopt a dog, a baby goat, or a tiny French boy, then I will be very surprised.
4/5 stars
Belle & Sebastian is in cinemas Thursday July 3.
