BELLE

Cinema is always mining history for unusual stories, to the extent that now there doesn't seem to be many more surprises left. However, director Amma Asante and writer Misan Sagay have offered up a gorgeous film based on the story of a mixed-race woman named Dido raised in an aristocratic home in 18th century England, and her struggle to distinguish herself because of her colour as well as pursue change in the empire’s slavery laws. ‘Belle’ isn’t a groundbreaking piece of filmmaking, but the elements at play within it make it a slight yet special film.

Asante uses all the expected tropes of the period drama to her advantage. On the surface we haven’t strayed far from an Austen romance, but under the surface is a bubbling commentary on race and the social structures in place to work against anyone that falls out of the norm. Dido, under the care of her great uncle and aunt, is a woman placed in a position in society unusual to a person of her heritage, and as the film plays out, we watch this impressive yet torn young woman contend with a hierarchy that works against, not just her skin colour but her gender. Where other films on such subjects have relied on shock and violence to create a sense of guilt or anger, ‘Belle’ replaces the violence with intellectual ideas and discussion, slavery as an act against God and man, its function in crippling who we are. That said, we still have gorgeous costumes and sweeping romance, but for once the ideas behind it give these tropes a new freshness. This might be set hundreds of years ago, but it speaks to a conversation we are still having, about the place of women and persons of colour in our society. As Dido, Gugu Mbatha-Raw makes an impressive debut that will surely lead to an exciting career, and is backed up by an impressive ensemble that includes Tom Wilkinson, Emily Watson, Miranda Richardson and Penelope Wilton.