Class Warfare And Identity Get A Rude Awakening Through The Eyes Of A “Coloured Girl”
In England Circa 1700!
By Alan Samuel
Race can be a dividing line. Shades of the truth cloud a young woman’s life in Belle. Not unlike last year’s hit 12 Years A Slave comes this high voltage drama from Fox Searchlight Pictures. Though not as graphic or brutally violent as the former multi Oscar contender this film still packs quite an emotional punch at Vancouver’s Fifth Avenue Cinemas
Told over a period of a good 20 years Belle tells the tale of a not so good life of a young lady named Belle. Born under rather mysterious circumstances the once grown girl is portrayed by Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Don’t let that what may appear to some to be a strange foreign name fool you Miss Mbatha-Raw makes quite an impression as a “coloured” girl living In tense times in England during the 1700s.
Left by her dad to be raised by the established Mansfield family this black woman is largely shunned by the white upper class caste system. Head off the house Lord Mansfield does his best to conceal their new child as does his wife Lady Mansfield , Both Tom Wilkinson (The Dark Knight) and Emily Watson embody a stiff upper lip British style while their high society friends are even more aghast at the new coloured intruder.
Through it all Belle rises to the occasion showing a unique way to make do against the. Latent discrimination that comes her way. Whether the elders will change their intolerant ways is just part of the complexity with this smashing 104 minute tour de force. Elements of love, history. trust, power and privilege are wonderfully interwoven in This smartly directed film by Amma Asante who also wrote this convincing and troubling story.
Beautiful costumes and elegant set design displaying glorious homes of the rich and famous worthy of Oscar nominations make Belle an insightful emotional journey of despair and hope.
