WOW, AN ASTONISHINGLY GOOD MOVIE. Fox Searchlight has picked a clear winner again. Belle (the movie), is based on a true story, with which liberties may have been taken. But that is precisely what one MUST do when telling a fictional story, i.e. make it as inspiring as possible and shape it to suit a classic storytelling structure. Misan Sagay’s screenplay sparkles; line after line of splendid dialogue is outdone only by the repartees that follow it. Gugu Mbatha-Raw effortlessly slots in as Dido Belle, the illegitimate daughter born to a negro slave and a white aristocrat who adopts her. This is not a tale of slavery though, or even of an identity crisis. It is the telling of a strong individualism that refuses to be pigeon-holed by the collectivist culture of its time; spreading the contagion of courage to lift the lesser ones out of their fear. My wife saw it twice in one week, the second time “because you should see it.” Emotions flowed freely in a crowded theatre from the halfway mark for me. Gugu doesn’t just beckon us into the world of Belle; she grabs us by the ears, never letting go, transporting us to 1789, where we suffer Belle’s every setback and rejoice her every triumph. In the end, the tears of relief were juxtaposed with tears of joy; it was art that triumphed in a catharsis that would have made Aristotle proud. “Forget the ten scholars who interpreted me, this is what I mean,” are words I hear from the great man smiling in his grave. Director Amma Assante never lets us astray—no moment is wasted in 104 minutes of gripping drama, the subplots integrate perfectly into the main theme, the obligatory symbolism links back to an original painting of Belle and her light-skinned step-cousin, sister-like in friendship but poles apart in motivation. No Hollywood A-listers grace the screen, nor do any car chases, shootouts, or special effects—one never misses them. About my only small regret is that what could have been the most cinematic scene of all—the drowning death of men at sea, is only talked about, but not shown. But then, it could only have occurred on screen as a visceral nightmare of Belle’s once she learns of it, for we just about never leave Belle’s point of view. Which sets us up for the Aristotelian catharsis rather well. (This post is NOT about the 2006 movie called Dido Belle but about the movie released in 2014). theguardian/film/2014/may/04/dido-belle-slaves-daughter-who-lived-in-georgian-elegance
Posted on: Sun, 08 Jun 2014 07:51:26 +0000
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