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Belle

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Belle (2013)

May. 01,2013
|
7.3
|
PG
| Drama
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Dido Elizabeth Bell, the illegitimate, mixed-race daughter of a Royal Navy admiral, plays an important role in the campaign to abolish slavery in England.

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Reviews

WillSushyMedia
2013/05/01

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

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ThrillMessage
2013/05/02

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

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Erica Derrick
2013/05/03

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

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Gary
2013/05/04

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

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Desertman84
2013/05/05

The year was 1769 as it states at the beginning.The British Empire was the country involved in slavery trade.Belle is a film that tells a story inspired from a painting that was done during that time period when a woman of British-African mixed ancestry Dido Elizabeth Belle standing beside her British cousin,Lady Elizabeth Murray.Apparently,it was commissioned by William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, then Lord Chief Justice of England,who happens to be Belle's great uncle. This British period drama film directed by Amma Asante stars Gugu Mbatha- Raw as Belle and Sarah Gadon as Lady Elizabeth together with Tom Wilkinson,Miranda Richardson,Penelope Wilton,Sam Reid,Matthew Goode and Emily Watson.The story of Belle starts from the time she was a child and taken by her father David Murray from the West Indies after the death of her mother whom little was known except being an African slave.Then she was taken to her great uncle,1st Earl of Mansfield, then Lord Chief Justice of England and grew up together with her supposed cousin,Lady Elizabeth Murray.Then the film centers towards Dido,who Belle is familiarly called,to her relationship with an aspiring lawyer and at a time when her great uncle is ruling on the case known as the Zong massacre,wherein slaves were thrown out of the ship by the captain's orders.The decision of the Chief Justice will ultimately lead to the abolition of slavery.Also included in the story is the search of Belle and her cousin for rich and eligible bachelor into becoming would-be husbands as well as Belle's search for the truth about society existing prejudices against those with people of African ancestry and existing trade for slaves as well as her fight for belonging in both her family and society.The viewers would definitely be treated with wonderful performances from cast especially Gugu Mbatha-Raw for her portrayal of Belle.We definitely see in her the pain and the suffering she has to endure due to being of mixed ancestry.We also get to see her hunger for truth about the existing slavery trade that the British Empire has implemented as well as her and her future husband John Davinier,a vicar's son,desire to change it.Also,Gugu and Sarah Gadon provide wonderful presence and charm whenever they are present on screen.What made it short from becoming a great film is the fact that it tried to be less offensive especially with its depiction of racism against African people and those with mixed ancestry.Was it because Amma Asante happens to be of African descent?I felt that more rudeness and hatred especially with the treatment of the would have made it more effective for the viewers to realize the pain and suffering these slaves and people of mixed race would have to go through.Added to that,I felt that the search for husbands of Lady Elizabeth and Belle became somewhat a major theme when less of it would have become better especially since what the viewer has to get from it is basically the how society viewed women of less importance and not equals compared to men as well as how people of mixed race are viewed by the rich and aristocratic.But in spite of these,I still feel it was a good film to watch as it did very well on presenting Belle's hunger for truth,acceptance,justice and change in society.

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l_rawjalaurence
2013/05/06

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.

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mjfoley-579-784132
2013/05/07

James Norton as the younger brother of Tom Felton who once again plays a foppish douche was enough of a contrast to take me out of the moment of the movie. Aside from that I became truly engrossed in the story of Belle as a rather large rock tossed into the still waters of the pressures to find "an acceptable match" for your children and family in British society touching on inheritance and slavery in a way that made me think of Moneyball. The scene where the white Bette explains that she is more property than her Negro cousin Belle dug at the feminist in me. Lord and Lady Mansfield were quite empathetic and the discussions of law and class by them and many other characters were not dumbed down in any way. I do enjoy a movie that requires me to think.

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kcla
2013/05/08

This is a fine film based on an amazing true story. It is hampered by a pallid lead performance and an over-emphasis on the (mostly fictional) romance between Belle and John Davenier.There is a standout performance by Sarah Gadon, as Dido's sister- cousin. Tom Felton, James Norton, and Miranda Richardson also provide much needed spark.Little is known about Dido Belle, most of our impressions is based on the famous painting. However, the film's characterization fails to convey the charm and playfulness of the woman in the portrait. Instead, the lead actress is left to make 'serious' faces with furrowed brows, watery eyes, and heavy corset-breathing.Oddly, it is the romantic lead which is the catalyst. John Davenier opens Dido's eyes to the iniquities of the slave trade and her status, which is historically inaccurate and a disservice to the real- life individuals. The film seems more concerned with the romantic life of the heroine than exploring the relationship between her and her family. Dido was an unusual woman, but so was her family. It was her relationship with her uncle and his historic decisions which abolished slavery in Britain that makes her story relevant. The writer does a good job though, of portraying all the inequalities of Britain. Dido may be hindered by her race, but her cousin and others are no less hindered by their poverty and gender. And the film does a good job of exploring the complexities and difficulties of Dido's relationship with society.

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