The portrait by Johann Zoffany commissioned in 1779 by Lord Mansfield that resurrected the story of “Belle”.

-BELLE –

The Motion Picture

I saw the motion picture “Belle” when it opened in New York City in May 2014 to approving audiences and strong ‘word of mouth’ acclaim. The beautifully written screenplay by Missan Sagay is  based on a true story.  As told by Ms Sagay she discovered the story under very unlikely circumstances as she took a walk through a nearby palace during a break from her medical studies at St. Andrews University more than a decade ago. During her walk along one corridor in the palace she came upon a room where a large portrait of two women hung on a wall. The way the two women seemed to relate to each other in the painting caught her attention and remained in her mind’s eye for years afterwards. After the completion of her medical degree and a few years of work as a practicing physician and screenplay writer, Ms Sagay decided to revisit and research the portrait that had caught her attention years earlier during that walk in the Scone Palace in Scotland. This research led to the discovery of  the story of Dido Elizabeth Bell the daughter of a woman, Maria Belle,  who had died over 250 years ago in a British colony deep in the American South*.

Maria Belle, a beautiful enslaved African woman, was found in the ‘hold’ of a captured Spanish ship during a naval battle between warships of the Spanish and British governments off the coast of 18^th century Cuba.  Maria Belle had been rescued from the Spanish warship by Sir John Lindsay, an officer in the British Royal Navy and captain of the 28 gun British warship HMS Trent. Marie and Sir John Lindsay fell in love after her rescue from the Spanish and apparently lived together near Mobile, Alabama where Sir John was stationed after the end of the war with Spain. They had a child, the eponymous Dido Elizabeth “Belle”.

The film opens when Sir John Lindsay, having been recalled from his post in Alabama and ordered to report for duty elsewhere in the British Empire, arrives in London to leave his young (perhaps five years old) daughter with his Great Uncle Lord John Mansfield to be brought up and raised with Lord Mansfield’s  family in England.

 The film depicts a period in the lives of Lord Mansfield and his family as they lived in a small town near London toward the end of the 18^th century. Lord Mansfield, his wife, and daughter were people of some ‘means’ who led lives of historical significance but who are perhaps better known now than they were during their lifetimes. Their story though, and the peculiar circumstances of their lives, holds some special relevance in today’s world. The lead character, Dido Elizabeth Belle, a mixed race child, is unceremoniously delivered to her grand uncle to be reared while her father goes off to war. The grand uncle, Lord Mansfield, perhaps the most powerful man in the British Empire during the latter half of the 18^th century, is also Lord Chief Justice of England. Mortified at first, Lord Mansfield hesitatingly takes the young girl into his home and raises her as his daughter. During this same time period one of the most important legal cases in the history of the Empire is presented to Lord Mansfield for a decision. The case involves and eventually leads to the abolishment of the slave trade in the British Empire. Thus the stage is set for a wonderful love story against a backdrop of great historical significance centered around the most powerful man in the British Empire during the latter half of the 18^th century.

THE DIRECTOR

The film is directed masterfully by the much acclaimed British director Amma Assante. Ms Assante was brought in by producer Damian Jones to direct “Belle” after her directorial debut with the film “A Way of Life” won awards in England and the United States. Ms. Amma Asante began her career as a child actor, became a screen play writer, and has now developed into one of the most promising new film directors in the motion picture business.

The London Film Festival awarded Asante the inaugural Alfred Dunhill UK Film Talent Award, created to recognize the achievements of a new or emerging British writer/director who has shown great skill and imagination in bringing originality and verve to film-making.