'BELLE': Three Stars (Out of Five)
Drama film based on the early life of Dido Belle, the mixed-race daughter of a Royal Navy officer, who was raised by her wealthy great- uncle in 18th century England. The movie was inspired by a 1779 painting of Dido and her cousin, Elizabeth Murray, and is mostly a fictionalized account of real life events. It was directed by Amma Asante and written by Misan Sagay. It stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Belle and costars Tom Wilkinson, Sam Reid, Sarah Gadon, Emily Watson, James Norton, Tom Felton, Miranda Richardson and Matthew Goode. I found the movie to be a little slow-paced, and poorly structured, but also somewhat interesting and entertaining.
The movie begins with Captain Sir John Lindsay (Goode) taking his daughter, Dido Belle (Lauren Julien-Box as a child and Mbatha-Raw as an adult), from the West Indies, where she was born, to England. He asks his uncle, Lord Mansfield (Wilkinson), to take care of her for him. Dido is then raised, with her cousin Elisabeth (Gadon), by her great- uncle and his wife (Watson). She is treated like an outsider by many but is well educated and inherits a great deal of money from her father. She later falls for a lawyer (Reid) and the two help influence her uncle's (the Lord Chief Justice) decision on a major slavery case.
I've read the film is not very historically accurate but it's major points are correct. I'm sure the dramatizations of events probably helped make it more interesting and entertaining though. It's still a little slow paced, at times, and none of the characters seem fully developed. The performances are all good enough though, for the material they're given, and the directing seems fitting too. It's definitely not a complete bore.
Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://youtu.be/Ew1sXPb- oQQ
Drama film based on the early life of Dido Belle, the mixed-race daughter of a Royal Navy officer, who was raised by her wealthy great- uncle in 18th century England. The movie was inspired by a 1779 painting of Dido and her cousin, Elizabeth Murray, and is mostly a fictionalized account of real life events. It was directed by Amma Asante and written by Misan Sagay. It stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Belle and costars Tom Wilkinson, Sam Reid, Sarah Gadon, Emily Watson, James Norton, Tom Felton, Miranda Richardson and Matthew Goode. I found the movie to be a little slow-paced, and poorly structured, but also somewhat interesting and entertaining.
The movie begins with Captain Sir John Lindsay (Goode) taking his daughter, Dido Belle (Lauren Julien-Box as a child and Mbatha-Raw as an adult), from the West Indies, where she was born, to England. He asks his uncle, Lord Mansfield (Wilkinson), to take care of her for him. Dido is then raised, with her cousin Elisabeth (Gadon), by her great- uncle and his wife (Watson). She is treated like an outsider by many but is well educated and inherits a great deal of money from her father. She later falls for a lawyer (Reid) and the two help influence her uncle's (the Lord Chief Justice) decision on a major slavery case.
I've read the film is not very historically accurate but it's major points are correct. I'm sure the dramatizations of events probably helped make it more interesting and entertaining though. It's still a little slow paced, at times, and none of the characters seem fully developed. The performances are all good enough though, for the material they're given, and the directing seems fitting too. It's definitely not a complete bore.
Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://youtu.be/Ew1sXPb- oQQ