Delayed Reaction: Belle

Premise: The illegitimate mixed-race daughter of an Englishman is raised by her Earl great-uncle in the 1700s, which obviously everyone is cool with and doesn't cause a stir at all.

 

This is a movie based on a painting. There's a portrait of black and white cousins from the 1700s that's notable for positioning them as equals in the painting. The black, or technically mixed-race, cousin is the titular Belle. Not much is known about her other than she was raised well by her great uncle, who was a powerful judge in England. She did get married and her great-uncle did make a famous ruling about a slave ship. The rest is unknown. So, all of you coming at this with historical accuracy complaints, settle down. No sensible person is approaching this as historical fact. It's more of an historical curio that makes good fodder for a movie.

 

One of my favorite cultural impacts of Hamilton is that it reminded people that it's OK to not be overly literal about period casting. If the story isn't specifically about race, then no one's really going to care if the casting isn't racially accurate. Since then, I've noticed a lot more royal courts in shows and movies with diverse casting*. I'm a fan of this. Before that trend, the only way I could normally ever find casting like that was in a unique story like Belle. Regardless, the important part of this movie is that Gugu Mbatha Raw looks great in period costuming, so I'm glad they found the story for it.

 

*The Great immediately comes to mind. Bridgerton too, although it somewhat addresses race. I really like how Miracle Workers doesn't even bother to explain the casting across races at all. It turns out, it's pretty easy to get me to buy that Geraldine Viswanathan and Jon Bass could have the same parents if no one makes a big deal about it.

 

The movie itself is pretty much what I expected. It has handsomely dressed characters and locations. The cast is great. Gugu Mbatha-Raw should be much more of a name by now than she is. Tim Wilkinson always fits well in a movie that needs him in a fancy wig. Same with Emily Watson. And Sarah Gadon. Miranda Richardson too. You know, this whole cast is time appropriate. Perhaps casting Tom Felton as the repugnant brother of one of Mbatha-Raw's suitors was a little too on the nose.

 

Verdict: Weakly Recommend