Lelle Belle (2010)

Directed by: Mischa Kamp | 85 minutes | music, comedy, romance | Actors: Anna Raadsveld, Benja Bruijning, Charlie Dagelet, Tom Van Landuyt, Renée Fokker, Joost Bolt, Isis Cabolet, Roscoe Leijen, Tom Jansen, Maureen Teeuwen

Sex is good. That’s pretty much the message Belle (Anna Raadsveld) gets in her young adult life at home, but she’s not really convinced. She kisses uncomfortably with her boyfriend Hendrik (Joost Bolt), who indicates in no uncertain terms that he would like a ‘present’ back if he gives her a worthless classical CD as a present for a classical music connoisseur like Belle. Belle keeps the boat off, after which Hendrik puts the flowers outside at the prom at school with her sister Tara (Isis Cabolet).

Belle completely loses herself in her ambition to be accepted at the conservatory, and practices with full dedication. However, the audition goes dramatically and Belle catches that her playing is rather ‘frigid’. When she suddenly feels someone standing behind her behind the scenes and touching her, she becomes entranced. Because it is dark, she does not know who it is, but the effect of this erotic turmoil is enormous. She returns to the stage and plays the stars of heaven. Jury member and teacher Vincent (Tom van Landuyt), whom she suspects was the one who brought her into ecstasy, gives her another chance and Belle, much to her surprise and delight, is through to the second round.

Belle wants that excited feeling back, but no matter what she tries, it doesn’t work. Even the experienced gigolo John (Roscoe Leijen) can lick what he wants, but Belle doesn’t get excited. So the hoped-for effect on her music never materialized… Thanks to best friend Yuksi (a delightful Charlie Chan Dagelet), Belle experiments a little further, but it all ends in a catastrophe. Then Belle also falls in love with Jesse (Benja Bruijning), but that doesn’t go as she had hoped either…

The smooth and catchy screenplay of ‘LelleBelle’ was written by Tamara Monzon and Jacqueline Epskamp. The story has been told more than once purely as a coming of age, but the script offers more than enough space for scenes in which female and male nudes can be portrayed, and that makes ‘LelleBelle’ just a little bit different, more naughty. Belle’s mother runs a kind of swingers club, but while Belle herself doesn’t like it, the writers maneuver her into a small number of sexual incidents later in the film, the first of which is the mentioned gigolo.

This Telefilm is therefore not intended for viewers who do not necessarily need images of genitals and penetration. Incidentally, ‘LelleBelle’ sounds more European than typically Dutch, because despite the reasonable amount of sex in the film, there are no vulgar dialogues and that is a strong move. The events are sometimes a bit too far-fetched – now and then you even doubt whether the fidgeting in the dark isn’t just happening in Belle’s head – but as a viewer you still keep hoping for that inevitable happy ending. The expressive (and brave!) cast and the funny story, which is essentially just a romantic comedy, make ‘LelleBelle’ a successful Telefilm.