News Story - Idaho State Journal

Movie BELLA Dips Into Pro-Life and Choice Issues

Thursday night at ISU's Bengal Theater, the Alternative Cinema Circle will present the movie Bella, which won the Toronto International Film Festival's People's Choice Award, among other awards and critical acclaim. The film will show at 6:00, 8:00, & 9:45 p.m, with tickets running $2 for the general public, and $1 for those with a Bengal ID.

Bella has at its core the lives of two broken souls - Nina, a waitress and Jose, a chef - who find themselves pulled together one day after circumstances cause the woman to lose her job at a restaurant owned by Jose's brother. Jose follows after Nina to return a stuffed animal she dropped and Nina drops the bombshell that she's pregnant. Jose then decides to spend some time with Nina for reasons not yet known by the viewers.

The streets of New York City are the supporting cast to the movie, while Jose and Nina slowly discover more about each other. Nina's life has been a struggle as she barely makes it on her own much less with a child, while Jose holds a secret of his own that has shattered his life and will come into play as to why he's invested in Nina's decisions.

I won't give away the story, but suffice it to say that questions of choice and life are a not so subtle backdrop, as Nina isn't sure what to do. What I like about the story is that it doesn't smack the viewer over the head with dogmatic political viewpoints either left or right, but rather goes to the heart of sorting out difficult issues much as everyday people must do when making such decisions. Jose doesn't seek to stifle or trump Nina's choices, but for various reasons would like her to see other possibilities, the kind of exploration of choices that seems to get lost all too often in the politics of abortion.

The film doesn't sum up in the all too often slick and tidy ways of Hollywood, but rather with conflicting acts of nobility, cowardice, and redemption, which carry the viewers through the realities of life via the art of Independent film making. Go see Bella. It's worth the watch.

This document was originally published online on Tuesday, May 13, 2008

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