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THIS MONTH ’ S FIL MMOMENTS THAT MATTER
AFTER TWO YEARS of living largely online, watching a film about the internet might not sound much like escapism. But Mamoru Hosoda’s Belle — which earned a 14-minute standing ovation at this year’s Cannes — is no gloomy technophobic parable. Instead, this retelling of Beauty And The Beast offers an insightful and epic outlook on the internet’s possibilities. Belle is the avatar of Suzu (voiced by Japanese singer-songwriter Kaho Nakamura), a meek teenager who finds anonymous stardom as a singer in ‘U’, the film’s vast virtual-reality setting, created by Hosoda and London-based architect/illustrator Eric Wong. Here, Hosoda and Wong reveal the blueprints, foundations and philosophies of their online world.