3 stars (out of 5)
Cécile Aubry’s book has been filmed before (and proved popular enough to provide the name of an enduring Glaswegian indie band), and co-writer/director Nicholas Vanier’s latest shot at the tale demonstrates once again that it’s rather more than standard icky-cute doggy stuff.
In the French Alps back in 1943 we meet Sébastien (Félix Bossuet), an adventurous lad who lives with his surrogate granddad César (Tchéky Karyo) and baker cousin Angélina (Margaux Chatelier), and hates the occupying Nazis we see bullying the locals. Sébastien hears of a ‘Beast’ that’s supposedly attacking sheep and biting farmers, and when he eventually meets it, only to discover that it’s a filthy, abused dog badly in need of a few kind words, a cautious pat and a bath, he and the newly-christened Belle become besties. At first forced to shield the mutt from César (who thinks that such a traumatised animal is dangerous), Sébastien also learns of the danger posed by Lieutenant Peter (Andreas Pietschmann), who rightly suspects that young doctor Guillaume (Dimitri Storoge) is helping Jewish families escape to Switzerland. And Guillaume must surely be incapacitated at some point so that you-know-who can step in to risk her life.
The landscape is lovely (and often scary) in Vanier’s film, but it’s the performances that impress, with Karyo (better-known for playing villains and heavies) tough but tender and the untested Bossuet holding it all together. Or does he? Surely the real star here is Belle herself, a big, galumphing charmer of a pooch, so delightful that she’ll see you past the dire soundtrack of slobbery songs, all of which seem to have been written for Le South Park.
I Wake Up Screening 