{"id":149627,"date":"2021-02-01T19:06:52","date_gmt":"2021-02-02T00:06:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/?p=149627"},"modified":"2021-02-02T14:40:51","modified_gmt":"2021-02-02T19:40:51","slug":"sundance-review-ma-belle-my-beauty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/sundance-review-ma-belle-my-beauty\/","title":{"rendered":"Sundance Review: Ma Belle, My Beauty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of Sundance’s Next category offerings for 2021 was Ma Belle, My Beauty<\/a><\/em> directed by Marion Hill. The film is based in the South of France and is centered on newlyweds Bertie and Fred who have recently moved from Bertie’s native New Orleans to Fred’s small French hometown. In the films opening scene we see Bertie and Fred composing a song together – Fred on the guitar with Bertie softly singing notes about love – revealing that the couple is also in a band together. A quite popular one in the area in fact. However, Bertie has not been up to the task of singing with the group lately – to which we find out later in the film – is due to a crippling depression that’s a mixture of homesickness and grievance for her recently passed mother, and has now caused her to retreat from singing for over six months. Fred has clear ambitions on taking the band to higher ground, yet realizes that Bertie is what keeps the crowds coming. With a tour on their heels, Fred needs to find a way to give his wife that spark back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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photo by Lauren Guiteras <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In comes Lane. Fred has taken matters in to his own hands by inviting Lane, a member of their once three-way relationship, in town to perhaps give Bertie a little familiarity in her new home. Lane is nervous about this surprise visit that was Fred’s idea because “Bertie loves surprises”, to which Lane knows is actually the opposite. In a decision to leave the women to catch up on their own to go practice with the band (something he often does in the film), we see Bertie take in Lane’s arrival in what seems to be a happy response. We soon learn after a somewhat uncomfortable trip to the market for ingredients for dinner, that Bertie reveals to Fred she is unhappy that he invited her to their home. Which of course, Lane overhears while eavesdropping from inside the house. It’s from here that we tumble down the web of emotion from the once throuple now turned into a married couple and a third wheel. Fred, deceptively brings Lane into town to reignite Bertie’s passion for singing simply so they can go on tour. Lane, is dealing with jealousy as she see’s that Bertie is in a fully committed marriage with Fred and that he has the access to her that she once had (or so she thinks). Bertie’s feathers have clearly been ruffled by her once lover that she still hasn’t healed from her abrupt disappearance from her life two years ago. Not to mention Lane never reached out to her when her mother passed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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photo by Lauren Guiteras<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As if we needed more thrown into the pot, in comes Noa – an Israeli ex-soldier who is now visiting the countryside to pursue painting. Young and fun Noa immediately catches Lane’s eye and the two begin a quick but intense love affair plain in Bertie’s gaze. The microwave romance causes Bertie to recluse in jealousy – somewhat matching Lane’s indisposition to Fred and Bertie’s marriage. Ultimately, we find that Noa’s presence rekindles Bertie’s desire to have sex with women once more, which leads to even more complicated situations that ensue for the rest of the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ma Belle, Ma Beauty<\/em> was an intimate and real look into what a polyamorous relationship looks like. Not the hyper-sexualized idea that society feeds you, making people who choose the lifestyle out as greedy or incapable of actual love. However, when Lane explains to Noa how she could be in a polyamorous relationship saying simply, “How could I not love someone who loves the person I love?”, a lightbulb of fresh perspective goes off. To negate that, the film honestly focuses on the love story between Bertie and Lane. Fred played a strange and somewhat selfish puppeteer, inviting Lane knowing that she would inspire change in Bertie to sing once again. He even mentions in the film, after an impressive fireside performance from Bertie, that she hadn’t sang like that until Lane came around. With that said, I’m not sure what Hill was trying to say with the film. It does prove that polyamorous relationships take real work from all parties involved and that the lines of communication must be crystal clear. The film is the sign of the times; that sexuality is fluid, love can be shared amongst more than two people, and no matter what love is complicated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As mentioned in a previous article on Sundance<\/a>, the festival is being streamed from home this year, however the film did a great job of transporting the audience to the South of France in the middle of summer. The film was shot beautifully and it successfully captured the essence of the small french town that it was filmed; from shots of the market and its fresh fish and produce, the candlelit dinners that made you want to call up a few friends, and the crisp shots of the architecture that were museum worthy – everything was well presented. To top off the gorgeous cinematography, the music was divine and went perfectly with the film. You can tell that the score was specially curated for the film, which was all acoustic guitar selections from Mahmoud Chouki<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I really enjoyed this film and as a person who was raised to believe in the idea of monogamy, enjoyed the realistic view of what a relationship like Fred, Bertie, and Lane’s looks like in real time. If you would like to take a dive into this summer romance, I would encourage you to take a note from the director (as she stated in the films introduction) that Ma Belle, My Beauty<\/em> should be enjoyed with a bottle of french wine, because it will be a good time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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