Belle (2014)

Film: Belle (2014)
Stars: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tom Wilkinson, Miranda Richardson, Penelope Wilton, Sam Reid, Emily Watson, Sarah Gadon, Tom Felton
Director: Amma Asante
Oscar History: No nominations
Snap Judgment Ranking: 4/5 stars

I know that I date myself with such comments, but I do really miss the Merchant/Ivory period craze of the 1990's sometimes.  If you were a fan of period costumes and great literature coming alive onscreen, every Spring and Summer the art houses were flooded with films of this nature.  Nowadays you're hard-pressed to find such things, and when you do it's utter tripe, so imagine my surprise when I stumbled across the delightful Belle, the new film from Amma Asante starring 2014's breakout star Gugu Mbatha-Raw, which manages to be a wonderful throwback to these style of films from the 1990's.

(Spoilers Ahead...though this is an historical story, so if you need a spoiler alert you should probably find some time to read a bit more English History) The film is about Dido Elizabeth Belle (Mbatha-Raw), the biracial woman who was born out-of-wedlock to a British Royal Navy officer.  After the death of her mother, she is entrusted to her uncle William Murray (Wilkinson), the Lord Chief Justice, and is brought up as a free gentlewoman and as a companion to her cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray (Gadon).  The film follows them as they grow up, with Dido inheriting money from her father after his death, while Elizabeth must marry in order to secure her place in society, as she is penniless.

The film tackles a host of different discriminatory practices from the era, which I was a bit surprised by based on the trailers.  The film obviously featured the racial aspect of the film, with frequent conversations about Dido's unusual status in society (she can't dine with her family, but she also is above the servants-she's of a weird social station that hadn't really been created at that point in time), but it almost puts that in the background of the film as it continues on, particularly in regard to the unfairness thrown at women of the era.  The film frequently points out the double-edged sword of Dido's cousin Elizabeth, who is seemingly given every opportunity of society, but we soon realize the enormous pressure under her to marry "well," as she has no money, and how her fate is entirely tied to what sort of man will want to marry her.  This has been shown in films before (Jane Austen has become a legend based on these styles of conversations), but it's been a while since I've seen it cinematically and I thought it was interesting how a film that didn't "need to" make this a part of the film (there's more than enough plot to focus on just one aspect of discrimination) still chose to highlight it anyway.

The same could be said for the weird pariah status of single women in this time period.  Penelope Wilton plays Lady Mary, a spinster who lives with her brother, and is often pitied by the young women who see her as silly and a "failure" since she never wed.  Later on, when both women start to realize that they too could succumb to her fate, she becomes something entirely different from them, and we realize the added pressure of youth upon women of this time period; "scoop him up" soon or you'll quickly be tossed aside.  It reminded me in many ways of Mary from Pride and Prejudice, a woman of less rudimentary interests who is played for comic effect in the film, never minding that her life, should she not find a man who likes her penchant for loud singing and books, will likely be spent as a shadow figure at Pemberley or Netherfield Park, too high-born to work but too poor to live off of an inheritance.  The fact that the film points out the unfairness of her position, particularly when seen in conjunction with the many single men of the film, is a testament to someone who was bound-and-determined to make an interesting film.

The performances are really quite good all around.  Gugu Mbatha-Raw clearly knew this was a star-making role and sunk her teeth in, not only acting well but clearly making an impression on the audience.  The film itself may not be particularly heavy (even though its messaging is more interesting than you'd anticipate), but she makes sure that she gets all of the charm, wit, and passion out of this role that you would expect out of a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.  I leave this film not necessarily thinking she was robbed of an Oscar nomination (she wasn't), but hoping that I see more of her, and guessing that she'll land that Oscar nomination sometime in the future.  The supporting cast, including the ever-dependable Tom Wilkinson and terrific young character actress Sarah Gadon, all work well, making strong indents in our memories even if they aren't the center of focus.  About the only "bad" performances come from the camp emanating from the scenery-chewing Miranda Richardson and Tom Felton, playing their villains a little too theatrically than this subdued film would require.

I really don't have much more to say, but I have to implore you to seek this out-it's rare where a film genuinely exceeds my expectations, and while this is no one's idea of a masterpiece (least of all mine), it's an intensely watchable movie with fine performances and sharp observations about prejudice.  Add it to your Netflix queue and you'll be glad you did.