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Belle (2013 film)

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Belle
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAmma Asante
Written byMisan Sagay
Produced byDamian Jones
StarringGugu Mbatha-Raw
Tom Wilkinson
Miranda Richardson
Penelope Wilton
Matthew Goode
Emily Watson
CinematographyBen Smithard
Edited byPia Di Ciaula
Victoria Boydell
Music byRachel Portman
Production
companies
DJ Films
Isle of Man Film
Pinewood Pictures
BFI
Distributed byFox Searchlight Pictures
Release dates
  • 8 September 2013 (2013-09-08) (TIFF)
  • 2 May 2014 (2014-05-02) (United States)
  • 13 June 2014 (2014-06-13) (United Kingdom)
Running time
104 minutes[1]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Belle is a 2013 British drama film directed by Amma Asante, written by Misan Sagay, and produced by Damian Jones.[2] It stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tom Wilkinson, Miranda Richardson, Penelope Wilton, Matthew Goode, Emily Watson, Sam Reid, Sarah Gadon, Tom Felton, and James Norton.[3][4]

The film is inspired by the 1779 painting of Dido Elizabeth Belle beside her cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray. Commissioned by William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, then Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, the portrait of his two nieces hung in England's Kenwood House, until 1922. Very little is known about Dido Belle's life in the Mansfield home. The film centers on Dido's relationship with an aspiring young lawyer and is set at a time of legal significance as the potential ramifications of the Zong massacre become apparent. Lord Mansfield's ruling on this infamous case, in England's Supreme Court, became an important step in bringing an end to slavery in England.

Plot

Belle is based on a historical character, Dido Elizabeth Belle, the mixed–race daughter of a British Naval officer and an African woman. Dido is taken to England by her father, Captain Sir John Lindsay, to be raised by his uncle, the Lord Mansfield, as an aristocratic Lady, as befits her blood line. On the grand estate of Kenwood House, Dido is raised in privilege alongside her cousin Elizabeth Murray and together they navigate the complex social hierarchies of the time. Dido meets John Davinier, a young lawyer and apprentice of Lord Mansfield, and a rift grows between her and her protective guardian, who sees John as being beneath Dido. Yet John and Dido’s meeting is the beginning of a love story that catapults Dido onto a path of self-discovery, and forces Lord Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice, to confront his own views on race, society and the antiquated laws of the time.

Cast

Production

The film was shot on location in the Isle of Man,[6][7] Oxford[8] and London and is the first major British motion picture to be shot on true-4K, using Sony’s F65 CineAlta digital production camera.[9]

The film was produced by DJ Films, Isle of Man Film, and Pinewood Pictures with support from the BFI.[10]

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

In July 2013, it was announced that Fox Searchlight Pictures had acquired distribution rights for the film in the UK and USA.[11] It is due for release in spring 2014.[12]

Original music for the film was composed by Rachel Portman.[13]

Historical references

The film is a work of historical fiction, developed from the painting attributed to Zoffany and the evidence that Dido was brought up at Kenwood. The relative absence of known facts about Dido Elizabeth Belle gave screenwriter Misan Sagay (“Their Eyes Were Watching God”) considerable artistic license in framing the young woman’s story within the broader historical context of a slave-centered economy slowly entering its death throes.

In reality, Dido Belle married a John Davinier after the death of Lord Mansfield but there is no evidence Mansfield ever met him. He was described as a servant at the time of their marriage, but later became a gentleman, perhaps with the benefit of Dido's inherited income. Paula Byrne in her book about the true story behind the film[14] speculates that he may have been from the household of the second Lord Mansfield, who inherited Kenwood after Lord Justice Mansfield's death. The idealism of the Davinier character in the film in some ways echoes the historical figure of Granville Sharp. Among plantation owners in London, who were hostile to Mansfield's judgments in the James Somerset and Zong cases, there was speculation that he was influenced by his adopted black daughter.

Similarly, the relationship between the girls is elaborated by the film on the basis of the painting. There is, however, considerable evidence of the Mansfield family's fondness for Dido Belle: birthday gifts, good dental care, bequests in the wills of family members, a remarkable account of life at Kenwood in an American Ambassador's diary, an account in the obituary of her father Captain Sir John Lindsay, a letter in which Lord Mansfield remarks on her skill as his amanuensis and his confirmation of her freedom. But her internal life remains unknown and in this regard the film is a fiction.

"Heavens May Fall" deals with Lord Mansfield's judgement in another case and mentions Belle twice.

Johan Zoffany painting

Dido and Elizabeth were immortalised in a painting attributed (questionably) to Johann Zoffany.[6] The painting,[15] which now hangs at Scotland's Scone Palace, was one of the first portraits to portray a black subject on an equal eye-line with a white aristocrat.

Authorship issue

Some initial press coverage ahead of filming cited Amma Asante as the sole writer of Belle, as well as director.[16] However, press releases that followed Fox Searchlight's acquisition of the film gave the final credit determined by the Writers Guild of America, West as "Written by Misan Sagay".[17][18][19]

Baz Bamigboye of The Daily Mail wrote that cast members Tom Wilkinson and Penelope Wilton had expressed 'incredulity' at the accreditation decision because Wilkinson and Wilton had "only seen and worked from a script written by Amma," whose writing and direction won her the Carl Foreman award at the BAFTAs in 2005.[19][20] However the article also revealed that Asante had been hired to re-draft an original screenplay written by Misan Sagay, after Sagay left the project due to serious ill-health. The subsequent arbitration process undertaken by the Writers Guild of America determined that Sagay provided the bulk of content used in the script, so Sagay was awarded sole writing credit.[19]

Producer Damian Jones confirmed, "There was a WGA arbitration. The WGA made its decision on writing credits. And the production respects and abides by their decision."[19]

Release

Belle premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival on 8 September 2013[21][22] and is due for release in the US on 2 May 2014 and in the UK on 13 June.[23]

See also

References

  1. ^ "BELLE (PG)". 20th Century Fox. British Board of Film Classification. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  2. ^ http://variety.com/t/belle/
  3. ^ Mitchell, Wendy (2 November 2012). "Belle | Features | Screen". Screendaily.com. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  4. ^ "Amma Asante Unveils First Glimpse of 'Belle'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  5. ^ "Tom Felton Rings The Belle | Movie News | Empire". Empireonline.com. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  6. ^ a b "BBC News - Isle of Man praised by Belle movie team". BBC News Online. 9 October 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  7. ^ "BBC News - Filming of movie Belle 'to bring £1m' to Isle of Man". BBC News Online. 10 September 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  8. ^ "Oxford Mail". Oxford Mail. 23 October 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  9. ^ "Belle first major British 4K film". Cineuropa. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  10. ^ British Film Institute (7 September 2012). "Full cast announced for BAFTA Award winner Amma Asante's Belle | British Film Institute". Bfi.org.uk. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  11. ^ Kemp, Stuart (1 July 2013). "Fox Searchlight Picks Up 'Belle' for North America, U.K." Hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  12. ^ Deadline Team, The (1 July 2013). "Fox Searchlight Takes 'Belle' In Most Of The World; Spring 2014 Release Planned". Deadline.com. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  13. ^ "Rachel Portman Scoring 'Belle'". Film Music Reporter. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  14. ^ Belle: The True Story behind the Movie
  15. ^ "Dido and Elizabeth Portrait". English Heritage. Retrieved July 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  16. ^ "Penelope Wilton and Tom Felton Join Cast of Amma Asante's 'Belle'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  17. ^ http://www.foxsearchlight.com/post/3763/exclusive-belle-gallery-at-usa-today/
  18. ^ http://www.screendaily.com/news/fox-searchlight-acquires-belle/5057909.article/
  19. ^ a b c d Bamigboye, Baz (19 September 2013). "Ouch! Rival writers sharpen their nibs". DailyMail.co.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  20. ^ http://awards.bafta.org/award/2005/film/carl-foreman-award-for-special-achievement-by-british-director-producer-or-writer-first-feature)
  21. ^ "Toronto film festival 2013: the full line-up". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  22. ^ "Belle". TIFF. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  23. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2404181/releaseinfo?ref_=tt_ov_inf
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