Sébastien, a 10-year-old Parisian, reluctantly finds himself on vacation in the mountains with his grandmother and aunt. He will meet Belle, an abused white dog, and they will become inseparable.
The friendship between Sébastien, an intrepid young boy, and Belle, a Pyrenean mountain dog, has always fascinated since its inception.
Belle and Sebastian, it was first a successful novel by the Frenchwoman Cécile Aubry, who adapted it in 1965 as a television serial. Then there was the Japanese cartoon which made an impression in the 1980s, then a trilogy with the actor Tchéky Karyo whose action takes place in the 1940s (released in the 2010s) and another series of animation co-produced by France and Canada in 2017.
With this contemporary version, director Pierre Coré (The Adventure of the Daisies) signs a family entertainment with absolutely magnificent landscapes that make you want to go to the Pyrenees. The plot addresses very current issues such as the preservation of the environment and the economy linked to tourism, without forgetting the importance of the family and the mistreatment of animals.
The scenario is not very original, but still manages to captivate us. Sébastien will want to save Belle from her evil master, and her grandmother who wants to sell her farm discovers that things are being hidden from her… We also follow the progress of the little townsman who is learning to manage in the high mountains – he watches the sheep, avoids the wolves and will feed the little sheep.
The grandmother, shepherdess, is very well played by Michèle Larocque, cold and embittered at the beginning, but fortunately, the relationship with her grandson will warm up. The young Robinson Mensah-Rouanet, who plays Sébastien, is very fair, as are the actresses Alice David and Caroline Anglade. Belle and Sébastien: new generation is a nice film that does not renew the genre, but this friendship between a young boy and this great mountain dog is irresistible, whatever the era.
Indoors
Drama
Belle and Sébastien: new generation
Pierre Core
With Michèle Larocque, Robinson Mensah-Rouanet and Caroline Anglade
1:37 a.m.