Belly

I expected "Belly" to be a self-indulgent, expanded version of the gangster rap videos that gave Hype Williams the power in Hollywood to make a feature film. I was right, but what I didn't expect was for it to be so good. I was mesmerized by "Belly" from the opening sequence of choreographed violence and music. Critics of this film should look to its film roots - film noir - movies that grow from the underground crimeworlds in America, that pleasure us with their money schemes, guns, and drug use. "Belly" has this, and more style than I have seen in any movie in recent years. It has dazzling visuals, and a respectable plot that borrows from "Scarface" among others. The acting is respectable, and I didn't see the movie as a piece of media to exploit the careers of its stars, I found it to be a good piece of cinema that legitimizes Nas, DMX, Method Man, Taral Hicks, and Tionne Watkins as actors. The music is great, notably the D'Angelo's "Devil's Pie" that shows crime being played out. The cinematography is stylized and beautiful. The dancing in Jamaica, the shootout in the strip club in Omaha, the opening sequence, the climax with the reverend where the issues that the film may be exploiting are addressed and in my eyes therefore considerate. Its a shame this film was so overlooked by critics. I think within it lies the future of both the gangster movie and the musical.

I really get p***ed off at movie critics sometimes. This is one of those times. I have insomnia, see what's on TV, check the rating (1 star out of 4) and almost pass it by, but decide to watch it for the camp value.

Why did critics hate this? Why do they in general hate movies like this? The film immediately reminded me of "The Harder They Come", "Pusher" (Nicolas Winding Refn's fantastic Danish film), "Laws of Gravity", "Kids", "Clerks", "Mean Streets", "Zebrahead", "The Killing of A Chinese Bookie", "Boogie Nights", "Rome, Open City" and "The Bicycle Thief". Why does it seem that film critics love neo-realism if its 'white', but usually hate it otherwise.

If you're a fan of these kinds of movies, give this one a chance. Unfortunately, with the unfavorable judgment from up on high that this film received, I doubt anyone will read these words. Darn critics. I don't usually insinuate things like this, but I have to wonder if a racial aspect is at play here, that maybe xenophobia deflected a lot of critics from giving this one a chance. Oh well, I loved it in any case.

I find this movie great because I like the performances of Nas, DMX, Taral Hicks, Method Man, Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and I like how Hype Williams directed this film, it's so urban-like and realistic as possible. I watched this film thinking I feel sorry for these guys in the film that it makes you want to understand about the difficult times they have been through. I never took hip-hop and realistic urban views seriously until I watched this film, now I understand why it's a struggle on the streets instead of urban fairy tales for profit.

NOTE: This film was recommended to me by YouTube user Kjo Schultz for "Steve Pulaski Sees It." Hype Williams' Belly follows the troubled escapades of two New York street criminals named Tommy (DMX) and Sincere (Nas), in addition to their partners in crime, as the gang spends their nights cracking cars and robbing nightclubs using little else other than brute force. This provides them with pocket money for the meantime; enough where Tommy can satisfy his girlfriend Keisha (Taral Hicks) and Sincere can take care of his girlfriend Tionne (Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins) and infant daughter.

However, the big break for these gentleman comes at the turn of the 2000's, when heroin prices are escalating and the business is becoming a lucrative venture for anyone willing to take the risk. Tommy and Sincere go on to meet "Ox" (Louie Rankin), a heroin drug lord who wants to work with the men due to their promise. The perils of urban life soon take their toll on the men, in addition to greed and self-absorption, most of it resting on Sincere, who has to constantly battle the push and pull effect he gets with his business and his wife nearly every day.

Belly is an interesting street-drama largely for its cinematography, and surprisingly not so much for its two leading male performers, two of the biggest names in hip-hop at the time. Rather than opting for flare with a constantly moving camera or canted angles similar to the Hughes Brothers' Menace II Society (this film also featured Tyrin Turner from that film in a small supporting performance, as well), Williams and cinematographer Malik Hassan Sayeed employ a wide variety of different ambiance and aesthetic warmth to the film. Consider the scene in a nightclub, where the blacklights make the characters "glow" blue in a strangely eerie, unsettling manner. Then consider one of the chase sequences in the film and how Williams employs very vivid, cleanly shot and paced car chases that help make a film that's mostly grounded in reality suspend disbelief for a few minutes in order to give you something completely different.

There's more variety to Belly than I initially had predicted. The issue at hand is that there is so much going on in Belly that it's a shame character development suffers as a result. Granted, this particular drama doesn't have a liberal three hours to build up character relations, but it doesn't have the same hard-hitting punch and haunting, "urban jungle" vibes as a film like New Jack City did a few year prior. DMX and Nas do a fairly adequate job of conveying characters, but there's not a lot to them as people, which makes their performances, as well as their characters, stunted from any kind of significant growth.

On an unrelated note, the soundtrack for Belly is what truly pushes it over and makes it a presence. Songs from Wu-Tang Clan, Method Man, and DMX himself populate a film that pulsates with life and adds to the noir-aesthetic Williams and Sayeed work to create. While it's unfortunate that Belly's lacking character development and rather subpar plot distract its loftier, more impressive elements, there's almost never too many urban films that depict some kind of dichotomy between playing by the rules and ripping the rulebook to shreds when you look at where it has gotten you. The film, in many ways, proudly showcases that.

Starring: DMX, Nas, Taral Hicks, Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, Louie Rankin, and Tyrin Turner. Directed by: Hype Williams.

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.