Simply A Masterpiece

People are voting emotionally.

How sad is this?

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

A black girl in a fancy dress in the foreground and a nicely furnished room in the background as well as the title and the small line beneath saying "based on the inspiring true story" was what caught my eye on the poster advertising Amma Asante's film "Belle" (2013) featuring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tom Wilkinson and Matthew Goode among many others.This biographical motion picture shows Dido Elizabeth Belle trying to find her place in 18th century England as a person of colour as well as fighting for the man she loves and her people. Gugu Mbatha-Raw's performance is outstanding, the costumes, the scenery and the music are nicely done and chosen, as they suggest accuracy and the story presented is extraordinary. However, as already mentioned the movie was marketed as a true story, which although Dido Elizabeth Belle is a historical person I can not agree with.In general there are very few facts known about Dido and her life, but even most of those were not included in the film and everything that makes the it as interesting as it is is not accurate. There is no evidence for Dido's participation in the Zong ship trial, nor any proof at all that she even had the slightest influence on her uncle. In addition, her cousin Elizabeth married many years before Dido eventually became Mr. Davinier's wife and it was also Elizabeth, who was the rich one and not Dido. Therefore, the story presented in the movie might surround a historical subject, but it is definitely not based on a true events. Although, I am convinced that a film that would be closer to what really happened would be just as interesting if not even more.Nevertheless, I have to admit that watching the film can be a pleasant experience, since its story is fascinating and the performances are well-done. However, only if the viewer does not expect this biopic to actually be a representation of the real Dido Laura Hiermann, 1501915 Elizabeth Belle and her life or a certain interpretation of what really happened, as it is neither. Overall I strongly believe that this film would have been better of as that, just a film, since this way it would be good, but as a biopic it completely failed.-Laura Hiermann References: Adams, Gene. Dido Elizabeth Belle a Black Girl at Kenwood". Camden History Review 12.24. 25 Nov. 2016. Belle. Dir. Amma Asante. Perf. Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Matthew Goode, Emily Watson. Fox Searchlight Pictures. 2013.Byrne, Paula. Belle: The Slave Daughter and the Lord Chief Justice. New York: Collins, 2014.

I wish something more positive could be said about Amma Asante's film. It is so eager to please with its sumptuous sets and costumes, its use of historic locations (including London's Kenwood House), and its precise attention to historic detail.Yet there is a fatal flaw at its heart. The reason is that the director does not seem to know whether they are making a love-story, a piece of social commentary with direct significance to today, or a heritage film, or all of them. Dido (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is a mixed race girl living in a bourgeois household under the protection of Lord Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson). Although theoretically free, she is denied most of the privileged due to her white relatives and remains the butt of casual racism from a variety of sources, including Lady Ashford (Miranda Richardson), and her son James (Tom Felton). She finds a sympathetic ear in John Davinter (Sam Reid) who after a series of debates with Lord Mansfield, eventually wins him over and they live happily ever after.Yet that love plot is complicated by the politics, centering over a legal case trying to determine whether some ship-owners were directly responsible for the death of a group of slaves. This is a true story, the outcome of which precipitated significant reform in the anti-slavery laws at the end of the eighteenth century. For contemporary viewers the topic has particular significance as it evokes similar sufferings experienced by contemporary refugees as they desperately board boats in an effort to escape their war-torn states, only to find themselves exploited by unscrupulous profiteers.Yet DIDO perpetually shirks this issue in favor of visual clichés - the lengthy walk by costumed characters, the pretty-pretty sites of green landscapes lovingly photographed at sunset, the clip-clop of horses' hooves along immaculately soiled cobblestones. It is as if director Asante were deliberately trying to placate a readymade audience. In truth several of these sequences are boring, holding up what might have been a complex plot and thereby diverting our attention.

I have to say, this film is one of my favorite's ever! It really gave us the feeling of how racism and slavery was involved so much in the 1800's but to be honest, it's still worse today. It has never changed and unfortunately never will until we hit the ground...Gugu Mbatha-Raw looked so beautiful like the real elegant Dido Elizabeth Belle. She reminds me as Kerry Washington doing a British accent. Seriously I thought she was Kerry Washington throughout the movie until I saw Gugu's name appear in the end credits.I loved in the film that they showed Captain Sir John Lindsay and Lady Dido's relationships growing stronger and stronger every time they see each other. I was so annoyed she accepted her engagement with Oliver Ashford as he just wasn't right for her and plus, he hasn't got a respectable family. Also he has a messed up brother who wouldn't shut his mouth! It was so good to see Tom Felton after the Harry Potter years because really, he needed a break from being known as Draco Malfoy.I'm glad to have seen this film. 9/10

I really have only one criticism regarding this film -- it's a little slow "out of the starting gate". But just when I got ready to yawn, the plot began to develop more interestingly, and I ended up watching it in one sitting (which I rarely do at home).The first strength of the film is the acting. With every film I see him in, I more and more come to the conclusion that Tom Wilkinson is one of today's very best actors; he never disappoints. Gugu Mbatha-Raw was impressive as the title character, although as my first experience with her, I'd want to see other examples of her acting before making any overall comment about her ability. We're not supposed to like Miranda Richardson's character, and I didn't, and I wasn't convinced in this one setting of her acting ability. On the other hand, Penelope Wilton -- as Lady Mary Murray (film wife of Wilkinson) was wonderful. I was impressed with Sam Reid as the fiery minister who opposes slavery and eventually wins the hand of Belle -- John Davinier. It was interesting to realize that Tom Felton (from the Harry Potter films) had an important -- though nasty -- role here; I kept wondering who is that...he seems familiar...only to realize who he was after looking it up. The other actors do their parts...they're fine...though without particular distinction.The second strength of the film is the story line...and there are two. The first, and it would seem the main story line, is of mulatto Belle who grows up in a White British world and how she adjusts to her role in life. That would be enough story for many films. But intertwined with it is the story of a slave ship that threw most of the slaves overboard. Was it for merely a profit motive? And there's where Belle's uncle (Wilkinson) comes in as England's head jurist who must decide the value of a slave. In coming to his conclusion he struggles with the law as it is (or may be interpreted), the value of a life, and his niece's romantic involvement with an anti-slavery minister. Again, it would be enough for one movie. But, the two story lines all fit together very nicely to form a complex story.The production is lush, the settings elaborate, and the costumes impressive.I was tempted to give the film and "8", but I reserve that for films that stand above Hollywood's (although this was a British picture) usual standards...and this does...although not quite over the line. So I give it a very strong "7".