Film critic Kristian Fanene Schmidt reviews Sundance 2021’s buzziest titles and today’s spotlight is on Ma Belle, My Beauty.
Sundance Film Festival just wrapped up! It’s around that time of year when Hollywood descends upon Park City, Utah (with all its problematic aspects, to be sure!). Or at least in theory, because our arses are still stuck in a pandemic.
That’s okay since they’ve made everything available online. I am quite happy to screen movies, sans snow, from the comfort of my bed. More importantly, it’s great that the festival is the most accessible it has ever been.
Those who can’t afford to kiki in the mountains with the industry elite can finally tune in for the first time without picking up a tab for flights, accommodations or overpriced pizza that ain’t even good. With a record number of people attending the festival this year, I hope they keep this up!
And on that note, here’s a rundown of my thoughts about Ma Belle, My Beauty at the Sundance Film Festival 2021.
WARNING – Potential spoilers ahead for this Ma Belle, My Beauty Sundance review
This was an uncomfortable watch. Ma Belle, My Beauty is about a polyamorous relationship between a Black woman from New Orleans and a white man and white woman, all living together in a small French town.
We’re supposed to get a glimpse into the machinations of a cross-cultural thruple but it’s just not interesting or believable. Though the acting performances by Idella Johnson, Hannah Pepper-Cunningham and Lucien Guignard were okay, there’s one major point that puts me off the movie altogether.
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There is one Black person in the film who is constantly surrounded by white people, with not one reference made to her Blackness. In the press Q&A, I asked director Marion Hill, who isn’t Black, about why she decided to make her film about an interracial relationship between a Black woman and two white partners. Her answer felt very much like a combination of “diversity matters!’ and “I don’t see colour.”
The problem here is that Hill didn’t provide any nuance to the character’s experience as a Black woman in this very white, European situation; all we found out about her was that she’d read Jane Eyre 12 times.
The actress could’ve been switched out for a white woman and not a single word in the script would have to change. The story is white by default and the director carelessly threw a Black woman in to look inclusive.
That’s extremely irresponsible and actually takes away from the character’s humanity. Ma Belle, My Beauty won the Audience Award: NEXT which is further evidence that the core attendees of these films are white and do not recognise and/or challenge these very serious issues. Thumbs down.
Check out CherryPick‘s Sundance chat with the director and stars of Ma Belle, My Beauty:
