Buried Under English Jargon
Belle
(2014)
A Review By Ben Hunter
4 Out Of 5 Stars
GET TO THE POINT
BEN!
A very digestible and
engaging story to invest in, even if buried under 17th Century
English jargon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), “Dido
Lindsay”, “Dido” (“dye-dough”), the inspiration behind the fictional period
drama, Belle, set right outside of
London in the late 1700’s. Dido’s story
is based on the real girl and the painting that derived with her and her
cousin, Lady Elizabeth Murray. Dido was
the daughter of an enslaved African woman of the West Indies and Sir John
Lindsay, a British Royal Navy Officer (Matthew Goode). So Dido was a caramel colored, “mixed”
girl. But she looked black. So 1779 London, it was definitely a major
social, political, and just about every other type of issue one could concoct,
when a teenage black girl and her white cousin are the focus of a painting
belonging to a high ranking Judge, 1st Earl of Mansfield, the Lord
Chief Justice (Tom Wilkinson), the man who raised Dido due to her father’s time
at sea.
Lord Mansfield and his family learn to love the girl, but only
to what seems as an extent. For they
know that people of darker colors are treated as inferior. So Dido is forced and is used to dining in
different quarters than with her family, the only family she’s ever truly
known. She feels out of place, higher
than the black help, but lower than the higher-class white family she lives
with. Dido struggles to find her place
while sorting out how to go about courting a man into marriage and the position
she should stand for.
This is during the time of the “Zong Massacre”, when slave
owners would toss slaves or “property” overboard to collect on the insurance
money. Lord Mansfield rules on the case
along with the other judges in accord in what is known as a heavily majored
participant in the issue of slavery in Britain.
Mbatha-Raw gives a convincing performance that invites one
into her life with interest. I can tell
she’s classically trained and up for a bright future with the right amount of
work. With a name like “Gugu
Mbatha-Raw”, I do feel like we’re all just going to start referring to her from
now on as “Belle”. Which is what I
would’ve liked her to be referenced as throughout this story. “Belle” is much more appealing of a name than
“Dido” which makes me think of “dildo”, a not so appealing of a name. But to call it “Belle” and never reference
that name except for the beginning when we learn what it means is kind of
misleading. There are abounding titles
alive with presence to capture the theme of this story that would’ve
sufficed.
Still, the story flowed easily from one point to the next,
even buried under 17th century English jargon. Tom Felton (“Malfoy” from Harry Potter) is even apart, encased in
his usual role of villainy. It was quite
interesting to learn that a 20 something, young black girl played a part in
major events that shaped the entire country of Britain. Which means to me that it’s a digestible story
worth taking the time to experience, which any mature audience can partake of searching
for a little more than gun chases, sex, and explosions. However, with all the talk of love and
following one’s heart to where it truly lay, a sexual explosion of some caliber
wouldn’t have agonized.
Belle
Drama, 104 Minutes, PG
Written by: Misan Sagay
Directed by: Amma Asante
Cast: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Matthew Goode, Emily Watson, Sarah Gadon, Tom
Felton, & Tom Wilkinson
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