A story of two people in New York City. Jose is Hispanic. Nina is Anglic. Both work at the Mexican restaurant of Jose’s brother Manny. Nina is pregnant, scared by that fact, and for a while it looks like Nina’s life is going into a tailspin.
Flashbacks of nightmares of the past are superimposed over large segments of Spanish dialog. But the Spanish is clear enough, and the subtitles appropriate enough, that I found myself thinking I could become fluent in Spanish in about six weeks of immersion. When I knew what they said (the subtitles) I understood most of the Spanish.
It took me a while to ‘get into’ this movie. I didn’t connect right away. Particularly, I didn’t like Nina, her character and her attitudes. But I got drawn in, and at the end there were tears in my eyes, when I finally realized what “Bella” was all about.
I will not give away the story. I will give away that you walk out understanding the Hispanic subculture in our country better. Most of the characters in the movie are Hispanic, and all of them are likable, real people.
This movie was the winner of the People’s Choice Award at Toronto 2006.
I watched this film a few weeks back and was overwhelmed by its simplicity and power. The realism of the situations and how the characters’ flaws were drawn out to play a major plot point worked so well. And yes, it was a great insight to the Hispanic subculture. Such a beautiful movie that let its characters and dialogue drive everything.