Crazy Credits. Alternate Versions. Rate This. The mixed-race daughter, Dido Elizabeth Belle Gugu Mbatha-Raw , of Royal Navy Captain Sir John Lindsay Matthew Goode is raised by aristocratic Great-uncle Lord William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield Tom Wilkinson in eighteenth century England.

Director: Amma Asante. Writer: Misan Sagay. Added to Watchlist. From metacritic. Celebrate Black History Month.

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Best Celebrated Black Directed Movie? Favorite artwork that inspired a movie or scene? Edit Cast Cast overview, first billed only: Matthew Goode Captain Sir John Lindsay Lauren Julien-Box Young Dido Natasha Williams Poor Woman Alan McKenna Harry Penelope Wilton Lady Mary Murray Cara Jenkins Young Elizabeth Emily Watson Lady Mansfield Tom Wilkinson Lord Mansfield Sarah Gadon Elizabeth Murray Gugu Mbatha-Raw Dido Elizabeth Belle Miranda Richardson Lady Ashford James Norton Oliver Ashford Tom Felton James Ashford Timothy Walker Wimbridge Sam Reid Edit Storyline This movie was inspired by the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle Gugu Mbatha-Raw , the illegitimate mixed race daughter of Royal Navy Captain Sir John Lindsay Matthew Goode.

Edit Did You Know? Trivia Miranda Richardson and Tom Felton appeared in the Harry Potter film franchise. Goofs When Elizabeth and Dido play the piano, it sounds like a large modern piano, not the small 18th-century piano onscreen.

Its keys look very old, even though pianos had existed for a few decades, and had just become popular. Most pianos in use at the time would have been fairly new.

Quotes [ first lines ] Captain Sir John Lindsay : How lovely she is. So much of her mother. Do not be afraid. I am here to take you to a good life.

A life that you were born to. Connections Referenced in Film Episode Soundtracks Concerto Grosso Op. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report this.

Frequently Asked Questions This FAQ is empty. Add the first question. Edit Details Official Sites: Official site. Country: UK. Lord Mansfield agrees to take a vicar's son, John Davinier, into a law pupillage.

In , Mansfield hears the case of Gregson v. Gilbert , regarding the payment of an insurance claim, for slaves killed when thrown overboard by the captain of a slave-ship — an event now known as the Zong massacre.

Dido helps her uncle with his correspondence and after John tells her about the Zong case, she begins sneaking correspondence to him which he believes will advance the cause of the abolitionists.

Lord Mansfield and John have a disagreement on the main issue of the case. John is told not to see Dido again, and his pupillage is at an end.

At first James is interested in Elizabeth but stops courting her once he discovers she will have no inheritance. Oliver, who is without fortune, proposes to Dido and she accepts, although she continues to see John.

James takes Dido aside, tells her she will disgrace his family's name, then insults and gropes her. Dido later tells Elizabeth of his true character and says she will give part of her inheritance to her for a dowry so she can find a different match.

Lord Mansfield finds out about Dido's visits to John and confronts both of them. During the confrontation, John professes his love for Dido. Sometime later, Dido meets with Oliver and breaks off their engagement.

Dido is relieved when the painting is unveiled, showing her as Elizabeth's equal. She tells Lord Mansfield that the portrait commission proves that he can defy convention.

Dido sneaks into the balcony of the Inn of Court, so that she can hear Lord Mansfield narrowly rule that the Gregson slave-trading syndicate, based in Liverpool, is not due insurance payments for the slaves the crew threw overboard during the voyage.

The ship's officers claimed they ordered this action because they were out of potable water. Lord Mansfield discovers, however, that the Zong passed by many ports without stopping for more water, before killing the slaves.

It appeared to Lord Mansfield that the slaves' quarters were over-crowded, making them sick and not likely to fetch a high price at auction, so the officers decided they would be worth more in insurance payments after their loss.

Lord Mansfield sees John and Dido outside the Court after his ruling and says that Dido can only marry a gentleman. Therefore, he agrees to resume John's pupillage, so that he can become a lawyer.

Dido and John share a kiss, both in full acknowledgement of their romantic feelings. On-screen text informs the viewer that Dido and John married and had two sons, that Elizabeth also married and had three children, and that the painting hung at Kenwood House until , when it was moved to Scone Palace in Scotland, the birthplace of Lord Mansfield.

The painting, once thought to be by Johann Zoffany , [6] is now attributed to David Martin. It was one of the first European portraits to portray a black subject on an equal eye-line with a white aristocrat, though distinctions are implied by the poses, as Elizabeth's "formality and bookishness are contrasted with the wild and exotically turbanned 'natural' figure of Belle.

The painting is replicated in the film with the faces of the actresses portraying the characters replacing those in the original. Dido's finger-to-cheek gesture is absent in the fictionalised version, as is her feathered turban.

The original picture is shown on screen at the end of the film. Filming began on 24 September The film was shot on location in the Isle of Man , [10] [11] Oxford [12] and London.

Production designer Simon Bowles created the 18th-century Bristol Docks on the Isle of Man and created Kenwood House, based on a number of stately homes in the London area.

Original music for the film was composed by Rachel Portman. The film is a work of historical fiction, inspired by a painting and the evidence that Dido was brought up at Kenwood House.

The relative lack of details about Dido Elizabeth Belle allowed screenwriter Misan Sagay considerable artistic licence in framing the young woman's story, within the broader historical context of the slave economy and the abolition movement.

The only other direct historical reference made about Belle, other than the painting and Thomas Hutchinson's personal diary, appear in Elements of Moral Science , a work by the Scottish professor of moral philosophy James Beattie , who met Belle and in the book states she recited poetry with "a degree of elegance" [16] equal to any English child of her age, arguing against the then prevailing theory that "negroes are naturally and utterly incapable of distinct articulation".

William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield , who was Lord Chief Justice of England from to , presided over two important cases, Somerset v Stewart in and the Zong insurance claims case in , which helped lay the groundwork for Britain's Slave Trade Act As in the film, he was the great-uncle of Dido Elizabeth Belle and Lady Elizabeth Murray.

At the suggestion of the producers, HarperCollins published a companion book, Belle - The Slave Daughter and the Lord Chief Justice , by biographer Paula Byrne , recounting the lives of the film's principal characters.

Sagay chose to set the major events; Belle's and Elizabeth's love affairs and the Zong case, in the same year the painting was made - when Belle was about In reality, Belle married at 32, long after Lady Elizabeth was married and no longer in touch with Belle.

John Davinier was in real life a French manservant at Kenwood, not an English apprentice lawyer. James Walvin OBE, professor emeritus of the University of York, said of Belle : "Much of the historical evidence is there — though festooned in the film with imaginary relishes and fictional tricks.

Partly accurate, the whole thing reminded me of the classic Morecambe and Wise sketch with Andre Previn Eric bashing away on the piano : all the right notes — but not necessarily in the right order.

Walvin points out that "he merely stated that there should be another hearing of the Zong case — this time with evidence not known at the earlier hearing".

Walvin awarded the film one star for enjoyment and two for historical accuracy. Some press coverage ahead of filming cited Asante as the sole writer of Belle as well as director.

The project was initially developed by HBO. It then received funding from the British Film Institute in , but Sagay left the project the following year due to serious ill-health.

Instead she learned that a script without her name on was being used. The subsequent arbitration process undertaken by the Writers Guild of America WGA determined that Sagay provided the bulk of content used in the script, so Sagay was awarded sole writing credit.

Producer Damian Jones then asked the WGA to give Sagay a "story by" credit, with Asante getting a "screenplay by" credit, but this was rejected.

In July , it was announced that Fox Searchlight Pictures had acquired distribution rights for the film in the UK and USA. The film received positive reviews from critics.

The site's consensus states: "It boasts all the surface beauty that fans of period pictures have come to expect, but Belle also benefits from its stirring performances and subtle social consciousness.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Theatrical release poster. Gugu Mbatha-Raw Tom Wilkinson Miranda Richardson Penelope Wilton Sam Reid Matthew Goode Emily Watson.

DJ Films TSG Entertainment Pinewood Pictures BFI. Release date. Running time. British Board of Film Classification.

Retrieved 27 March Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 28 July Retrieved 1 July The Hollywood Reporter. English Heritage. Retrieved 16 June BBC News.

Oxford Mail. Archived from the original on 14 July British Film Institute. Film Music Reporter. The Works of James Beattie, LL.

This film showed that while much has changed, many attitudes have not changed in years Films Directed by Women. Watch the video. History Extra. FULL CAST AND CREW TRIVIA USER REVIEWS Programm Heute Abend Sky MORE LESS. The project was Salem Staffel 3 developed by HBO. Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture. Edit Did You Know? Geizhals Extrem from the original on 14 July Film Music Reporter. Written by Fox Searchlight Pictures. James Ashford Timothy Walker