BELLE

            Belle is a UK drama film, directed by Amma Asante, written by Misan Sagay, and produced by Damian Jones.This film is a Narrative Feature of 105 minutes and stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tom Wilkinson, Miranda Richardson, Penelope Wilton, Sam Reid, Matthew Goode, Emily Watson, Sarah Gadon, Tom Felton, and James Norton. This film, although produced in 2013, made its Caribbean Premiere at this year’s trinidad+tobago film festival. The film is based on a true story and was inspired by the striking 1779 portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle beside her cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray. This portrait was hung at Kenwood House until 1922 and today hangs at Scone Palace Scotland. I have to agree, the painting is indeed very striking and I can see why it inspired the film. This painting is shockingly different from the ones usually seen during that particular period in time, with powerful appeal and intriguing details, as Dido, a bi-racial woman is portrayed as being equally noble as her English cousin. Dido is painted wearing expensive ostrich feathers, which is in marked contrast to the usual subservient poses of black people in paintings of that era. The picture shows the closeness between Dido and her cousin, despite the position of black skinned people in Britain at the time. Dido is carrying a plate of fruit which makes the portrait look very natural, playful and affectionate. It's not even clear who painted the portrait but it is clear that Dido's great uncle, William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, then Lord Chief Justice of England, commissioned the painting, which would have been a very very brave act for the time and place, especially from someone with such high social standing. Truly truly commendable!!

1779 painting of Dido Elizabeth Belle (1761 - 1804) and her cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray (1760 -1825)

The film was set in the year 1769, when Britain was a colonial empire and a slave trading capital. British society of that era was built on its slave trade, which made Britain as dependent as America on a slave economy, but it was a faraway trade most didn't have to confront face to face.The story in this film brightly shines the light on the slave trade and brings it to the forefront. This right here is the exact reason why I choose to look at this film! The story takes place during a crucial time in history when England is at danger of upsetting their economic dependence on slavery. Throughout the film, a court case is taking place on what became known as the Zong massacre. The Zong massacre took place when 132 slaves on route from Africa to the West Indies were thrown overboard from the Zong slave ship. The slave traders claimed that this was done for the sole purpose of the safety of the ship, saying that the slaves were diseased, some even close to dying and that there was barely enough water aboard the ship for both slaves and crew to survive the rest of the voyage. The slave owners then filed with the insurance company for financial re-compensation of each slave that was lost, as they claimed that what happened was done out of complete necessity to save the ship. Lord Mansfield is seen as the person who rules on this case in England's Court of King's Bench in 1786, in a decision that can bring the slave trade to its knees and destroy the economic foundation of England. 

            The film mainly centers on Dido Elizabeth Belle. Dido, who was born on English soil, was the illegitimate, mixed-race daughter of a British admiral named Sir John Lindsay and an enslaved black Caribbean woman by the name of Maria Belle. Before leaving to go captain a voyage to the indies on a longitude experiment, Sir John Linsay left Dido in the entrusted care of a then appalled Lord Mansfield and his wife. The audience is taken on a journey to see Dido as she becomes a young woman, constantly struggling as a Mulatto who is placed in a position that makes her too high in rank to dine with the servants but too low in rank to dine with her family and with very very slim prospects of marriage but yet finding the strength and courage to ensure that justice was rightly served with this horrid Zong massacre.

At the end of the film, the audience learns that the slave traders deliberately choose to use the ‘tight-packing’ method to place the slaves in, although they knew that this method of transportation was highly responsible for causing diseases in the slave, which would eventually render them unable to serve as they normally would. It was also discovered that the slave trader’s excuse of there being limited supply of water for both slaves and crew was completely false, as the ship passed no less than eight ports where they could have replenished their supplies but did not, either because they did not need a re-supply of water or they knew what they had planned. To discharge slaves into the water for compensation purposes is entirely illegal and besides being illegal, it is wrong and INHUMANE on so many levels!!! It was therefore declared that a fraud was committed and as Lord Mansfield rightly said, “the state of slavery is so odious a position, that nothing may support it.” The zone case became a seminal step towards the abolition of slavery, paving the way for the landmark 1833 British law abolishing slavery. Some say that Mansfield’s decision may have been coloured because of the affection he felt for Dido.

In conclusion, I can honestly say that I enjoyed every second of this inspiring and beautiful film. As a film that is set during such a visually-rich period, there is a high need to portray excellent visuals. The filmmakers definitely did a praiseworthy job in capturing all the images in such stunning detail and accuracy which added significantly to the splendid beauty of the film as a whole. The result was indeed truly phenomenal, leaving long lasting images in my mind. The actors really got into character and all did an excellent job, giving us stellar performances. I am deeply grateful that I received the opportunity to see this film as it was not just merely entertaining but a significantly important learning experience for me, very happy that the trinidad+tobago film festival had this on show for all to see. As a person of the Caribbean, stories like this are worth knowing. To move towards a bright future, we need to know about the past, about where we came from and how we became who we are as a people today. So I strongly recommend this film to everyone, add it to your movie list and I can assure you, without a doubt, that this film will have every bit of a lasting effect on you as it had on me.

Thanks for reading! Check out the trailer for the film below..

                                              Trailer for the film Belle (2013)