Belly (1998)

User Rating:

4.3/10   

Director:

Hype Williams

Writers:

Anthony Bodden (story) &
Nas (story) ...

Release Date:

4 November 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

A pair of vicious black gangsters have spiritual awakenings.

Plot Keywords:

Ghetto | Drugs | Neorealism | African American | Tragedy

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

DMX	...	Tommy 'Buns' Bundy
Nas	...	Sincere
Hassan Johnson	...	Mark
Taral Hicks	...	Kisha
Tionne 'T-Boz' Watkins	...	Tionne
Oliver 'Power' Grant	...	Knowledge (as Power)
Louie Rankin	...	Lennox
Stan Drayton	...	Wise (as Stanley Drayton)
James Parris	...	LaKid
Method Man	...	Shameek
Kurt Loder	...	Himself
Ben Chavis	...	Rev. Saviour (as Minister Benjamin F. Muhammed)
Tyrin Turner	...	Big
Jay Black	...	Black
John 'B.J.' Bryant	...	Thug #1

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, language, sexuality and drug use.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

Jamaica | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Germany:16 | South Korea:18 | Australia:MA | UK:18 | USA:R | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Jamaica

Company:

Big Dog Films

Trivia:

Shameek escapes a shootout with the police by getting in a car. The driver is his fellow Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah.

Quotes:

Roger: Without us, you go to jail. You go to jail forever.

Movie Connections:

References The Godfather (1972)

Soundtrack:

Two Sides

Brilliant

Please disregard the above review. Either the viewer likes being spoon-fed his films, or was not paying attention. Note that the viewer didn't even attempt an understanding of the title "Belly," which was the central theme of the film. The viewers others comments can stand for themselves.

In all honesty, the first time I watched this film, I actually turned the volume down -- I was enraptured by the way each scene was composed on the frame. Visually, this movie is stunning. The director has a striking style, and besides that, he is PRODIGIOUS -- there appears to be no end to the ways that he can make his compositions rich in visual entertainment and information. I can enumerate a list of techniques he used here, but that will be an exercise in boredom for today's cyber-nauts. Even more important, the compositions are never created for their own sakes, which was my initial criticism the first time I saw it -- they really do propel the film. The style is integral to the story. Get the film and you will see what I'm referring to; if you disagree, say so in your review.

80% of the film seems to be a riff on the hip-hop video aesthetic (never mind the fact that the director greatly defined the recent shape of this aesthetic) and myth. In it's third act, however, it uses the very same conventions -- outlaw figures, ostentatious style, and violence -- to confront and question these aesthetics. In the climactic ending, this criticism is embodied in the confrontation between one of the heroes of the film (DMX) and a figure symbolic of actual figures from black history. The director actually used an anachronism to face down a contemporary hero, and argues for the relic.

What the film argues for, as embodied by the final speech of the Minister character, is a message so powerful and relevant -- particularly to the very people who will associate themselves the most with this film -- that it will leave you breathless. It is a timeless message passed down from antiquity, framed by the most daring and contemporary of directors. It is an exhilarating juxtaposition.

What of the title, "Belly?" A belly is what a pregnant woman has; it is the external shape of soon-to-be-born child. It is the womb, the source of life. It is the promise of what is to be, as well as the origins of what is. If you abstract it, it's shape will be that of a circle - the symbol of wholeness, of the journey to individuation. It is the same difficult journey that the movies' anti-heroes take.

BELLY is a powerfully visual, yet simple tale about redemption. Not to be missed.