By Darlene Donloe
The story of
Belle hits select theaters on May 2. It’s an engaging, dramatic, emotional, caustic
and inspirational true story about
Dido Elizabeth Belle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), the illegitimate daughter
of Capt. Sir John Lindsay (Matthew Goode) and an African slave.
The story is set in 1769.
When Capt. Lindsay returns to his Royal Navy military duties and thus is
forced to leave Belle in the care of
her aristocratic great-uncle Lord Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson) and his wife (Emily
Watson), with the mandate they treat her with the same respect and full rights as
any other member of the family. Lindsay,
who loves his daughter and has embraced her without shame, pleads with his
relatives to look after her. Lord Mansfield and his wife are both
ill-prepared, but nonetheless duty-bound to take Belle in as a member of their family.
Although her
relatives grudgingly accept her as a member of the family, they bestow upon her
a strict, demanding kind of love. While
they accept her as a part of the family, Belle,
whom they call Dido, is not allowed to dine with her own relations when they
are entertaining guests. She may, however, join the guests after dinner. The
looks on their faces when they see her showcases their indignation. Not
realizes she was ‘so dark’, whispers begin Lord Mansfield’s “mulatto”
grand-niece.
Belle's lineage affords her certain privileges, yet her
status prevents her from the traditions of noble social standing. She has all
the social graces, breeding and education as any of her peers, yet Belle,
because she is black is still not fully accepted by all.
While her cousin Elizabeth (Sarah Gadon), who does not have
an inheritance - longs for a suitable marriage, Belle, who receives a hefty
inheritance after her father’s death, is left on the sidelines wondering if she
will ever find love. After meeting an idealistic young vicar's son bent on
changing society, he and Belle implore
Lord Chief Justice Mansfield to take a stand and end slavery in England.
The B-story is the Zong massacre of 1781, a notorious incident in which 142
disease-ridden Africans were hurled from a slave ship and drowned so that the
owners might claim insurance for their damaged “cargo.”
Lord
Mansfield must hear the legal case, but, of course, is slightly torn because his
decision will have far-reaching implications for the slave trade and the
ongoing treatment of blacks as disposable goods rather than as human beings.
A beautifully shot film by Director Amma Asante, Belle, a beautiful period piece successfully
manages to mix romance, the abolition of slavery, classism, sexism and racism.
Belle is a strong and proud woman. She resists settling even
when it appears her life and social status will rise if she marries into a
white family. When the brother of
her suitor continues to spew venom about her black lineage, Belle realizes she
will not be welcomed openly into the family.
Belle
is a rare gem of a film about a
rare member of 18th-century high society, a woman of mixed English and African
ancestry and how she did her part to push the empire one step closer to
abolition.
Great performances
throughout, especially by a stunning Mbatha-Raw who, ironically delivers a raw presentation.
This is one of the
best films this year. A must see!
Belle, directed by Amma Asante and written by Misan Sagay, stars
Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sarah Gadon, Tom Wilkinson, Emily Watson, Matthew Goode, Sam
Reid, Miranda Richardson, Penelope Wilton, James Norton, Tom Felton and Lauren
Julien-Box.
Belle (Fox Searchlight) is Rated PG; Running time: 1 hr. 45 min.
On the DONLOE
SCALE: D (don’t bother), O (oh, no), N (needs work), L (likeable), O (OK) and E
(excellent), Belle gets an E (excellent).
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