Here. I don't remember a movie in recent times that I enjoyed so much. The mixed-race daughter, Dido Elizabeth Belle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), of Royal Navy Captain Sir John Lindsay (Matthew Goode) is raised by aristocratic Great-uncle Lord William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson) in eighteenth century England. With Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Matthew Goode, Emily Watson, Miranda Richardson. Belle is a 2013 British period drama film directed by Amma Asante, written by Misan Sagay and produced by Damian Jones.It stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tom Wilkinson, Miranda Richardson, Penelope Wilton, Sam Reid, Matthew Goode, Emily Watson, Sarah Gadon, Tom Felton, and James Norton. [25][27], In July 2013, it was announced that Fox Searchlight Pictures had acquired distribution rights for the film in the UK and USA. It showed how then and now too much emphasis is placed on skin color. Travel back in time to check out the early roles of some of Hollywood's heavy hitters. Up Next. Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Dido and John share a kiss, both in full acknowledgement of their romantic feelings. Lord Mansfield agrees to take a vicar's son, John Davinier, into a law pupillage. Mads Mikkelsen, Armie Hammer to star in Amma Asante’s ‘Billion Dollar Spy’. And it is uncomfortable to think that the template for the rom-com was built on...well, do I have to spell it out for you? "[32] Critic Mark Kermode named it his fourth-favourite film of 2014. and early 18th. So much of the repertoire of films on Black history and the history of trans-Atlantic slavery is dominated by the experiences of African Americans and Afro-Caribbeans to a lesser extent. This film is the story of how these events might have happened. But at the same time, Dido’s aunts, played by Emily Watson and Penelope Wilton, seek to steer Dido into an engagement with Oliver Ashford (James Norton), son of a very scheming grand dame (Miranda Richardson, of course) and younger brother to a bug-eyed bigoted quasi-rotter (Tom Felton, who seems not at all concerned by the fact that he’s lately being cast as a Draco Malfoy For All Seasons). The uncle raised Belle in the manner of upper class girls with her cousin Elizabeth, who was also his charge. She is the only daughter of Maurice, an inventor with whom she resides in a small, French village. The townsfolk labeled Belle an outcast because of her free-spirit. The painting is replicated in the film with the faces of the actresses portraying the characters replacing those in the original. The site's consensus states, "It boasts all the surface beauty that fans of period pictures have come to expect, but Belle also benefits from its stirring performances and subtle social consciousness. Shop for belle movie dvd online at Target. Read his answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here. Quickly browse titles in our catalog based on the ones you have picked. Walvin awarded the film one star for enjoyment and two for historical accuracy. Directed by Mischa Kamp. [7] The painting hung in Kenwood House until 1922 and now hangs at Scone Palace in Perthshire, Scotland. Video availability outside of United States varies. I have to be honest. (uncredited), Upper Class Gentleman It showed how then and now too much emphasis is placed on skin color. There's a problem loading this menu right now. A life that you were born to. Add the first question. Lord Mansfield would eventually rule on a landmark legal case that would contribute to the abolition of slavery in England, and Belle would marry a British gentleman and vanish into private life. It is based upon a true story and would be a great comparison to the greatly anticipated wedding of Prince Harry. [13] The film was produced by DJ Films, Isle of Man Film, and Pinewood Pictures with support from the BFI.[14]. Official Sites I was very happy that this was not the case with Belle. Dido later tells Elizabeth of his true character and says she will give part of her inheritance to her for a dowry so she can find a different match. | Dido is relieved when the painting is unveiled, showing her as Elizabeth's equal. Belle is the female protagonist of Disney's 1991 animated feature film, Beauty and the Beast. Favorite film with a black woman in the lead role? | I'm always afraid when I watch these types of films that the writers'/directors will take it down a road I won't like, so the first time I watch them I'm always on edge thinking "Oh, please don't do this" or "Please don't say that" thinking that at any moment something will happen and it's going to ruin the storyline for me. The movie is intelligently written and well-acted, but it doesn’t sit all that comfortably between the two stools of Austenesque Romance and Socially Conscious Drama. A biographical portrait of a pre-fame Jane Austen and her romance with a young Irishman. My only slight dissatisfaction is that I yearned to see a bit of her mother's story if only for a few minutes, as well as some representation of the victims of the Zong massacre. Period costume drama re Dido Elizabeth Belle & the abolishment of the British slave trade, Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2020. Dido hears about the case in dribs and drabs, and then in more detail from a neighbor, a passionate vicar’s son (Sam Reid) who’s under Lord Mansfield’s tutelage, at least until they have a violent disagreement on the main issue of the case. Looking for something to watch? Release Dates Left to wonder if she will ever find love, Belle falls for an idealistic young vicar's son bent on change, who, with her help, shapes Lord Mansfield's role as Lord Chief Justice to end slavery in England. John is told not to see Dido again, and his pupillage is at an end. I don't remember a movie in recent times that I enjoyed so much. Some press coverage ahead of filming cited Asante as the sole writer of Belle as well as director. | [26] Information obtained by Entertainment Weekly showed Asante wrote 18 script drafts, before she directed the film. During the confrontation, John professes his love for Dido. At the suggestion of the producers, HarperCollins published a companion book "Belle - The Slave Daughter and the Lord Chief Justice" by biographer Paula Byrne recounting the lives of the film's principal characters. Favorite artwork that inspired a movie or scene? Dido's father dies and leaves her the generous sum of £2,000 a year, enough to make her an heiress. They were like sisters, an unusual situation with Belle's African heritage, but Lord Mansfield even had a painting made of the two girls together celebrating their bond. An incredibly well written, acted and produced film. Inspirational Women's History Humanitarian Biopics, View production, box office, & company info, Soumitra Chatterjee's health shows marginal improvement, but still critical, Mads Mikkelsen and Armie Hammer to Star in Cold War Thriller ‘The Billion Dollar Spy’, Mads Mikkelsen, Armie Hammer to star in Amma Asante’s ‘Billion Dollar Spy’. This movie is most likely not playing at a theater near you, but it is so worth traveling to see. Original music for the film was composed by Rachel Portman.[15]. The story touched my heart as a person of mixed African descent. The 1779 painting, once thought to be by Johann Zoffany,[6] is now attributed to David Martin. Dido’s aunts, Lady Mansfield and Lady Mary Murray, Lord Mansfield's sister, seek to steer Dido into an engagement with Oliver Ashford, son of a scheming grand dame and younger brother to the bigoted James Ashford. A mousy governess who softens the heart of her employer soon discovers that he's hiding a terrible secret. Dido’s consciousness grows, as does her attraction to the vicar’s son. It then received funding from the British Film Institute in 2009, but Sagay left the project the following year due to serious ill-health. In the aftermath of World War II, a writer forms an unexpected bond with the residents of Guernsey Island when she decides to write a book about their experiences during the war. Fortunately his wife will not have to suffer as Belle did, but she will receive some discrimination and has to remember how much we all respect and admire her. On-screen text informs the viewer that Dido and John married and had two sons, that Elizabeth also married and had three children, and that the painting hung at Kenwood House until 1922, when it was moved to Scone Palace in Scotland, the birthplace of Lord Mansfield. The original picture is shown on screen at the end of the film. Two talented landscape artists become romantically entangled while building a garden in King Louis XIV's palace at Versailles. Read about it, please, from better sources than me. Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2017. She tells Lord Mansfield that the portrait commission proves that he can defy convention. Directed by Amma Asante. It appeared to Lord Mansfield that the slaves' quarters were over-crowded, making them sick and not likely to fetch a high price at auction, so the officers decided they would be worth more in insurance payments after their loss. | When the two cousins reach adulthood, the Mansfields commission an oil portrait of their two great-nieces, but Dido is unhappy about sitting for it as she is worried that it will portray her as a subordinate, similar to other portraits she has seen depicting aristocrats with black servants.