Belly . Tucson Weekly . 11-09-98

Belly

DIRECTED BY: Hype Williams

REVIEWED: 11-09-98

In response to the assertion that Black English is drifting away from standard English, Linguist John McWhorter has recently tried to make the case that Black English is a fairly stable dialect that is about as close to Standard English today as it was 30, 50 or 100 years ago. Perhaps he could get a job subtitling Belly, a story of inter-state, international, inter-gang rivalries which is, at times, as visually engaging as it is hard to understand. This "gangsta" film is so artfully shot that you'll forget how hard the convoluted plot is to follow. It's first 45 minutes are dedicated to visual excess, with director Hype Williams employing a delicious palate of alternating monotone scenes. One of the most notable segments cuts back and forth between a blue-tinted boudoir and an all-in-yellow suburban living room to smashing effect. Oddly, all the half-toned shots, beautiful compositions and Fritz-Lang-on-Ecstasy lighting vanish about half-way through, and suddenly the story starts to make sense. Maybe it's an either-or thing, but both halves of the film work, first as psychedelic-noir eye-candy, then as a reasonably engaging story of gangsters searching for redemption. Starring Nas (who co-write the script with video director Hype Williams) as Sincere, and DMX as his gangsta pal Tommy.

--DiGiovanna

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Belly
Belly

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