I heard about this film once or twice during its release in cinemas, I later found out about the good cast in it, and it did look and sound interesting, so I gave it a chance. Based on a true story, and inspired by the 1779 painting of the title character, Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) was born in 1761, the natural daughter of enslaved African woman Maria Belle from the West Indies, and British Royal Navy officer Captain Sir John Lindsay (Matthew Goode). After Dido's mother's dies in 1765, Captain Lindsay takes her from the West Indies slums and entrusts her to his uncle William Murray (Tom Wilkinson), 1st Earl of Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice, and his wife Elizabeth (Emily Watson), who live in the estate Kenwood House, in Hampstead outside London. Lord and Lady Mansfield raise Dido as a free gentlewoman, along with their niece Lady Elizabeth Murray (Sarah Gadon), who came to live with them after her mother died and her father remarried. The two cousins reach adulthood, an oil portrait is commissioned, but Dido is unhappy sitting for it, worried she will portrayed as a black servant, rather than as an aristocrat. Dido's father dies and leaves her a generous sum of £2,000 a year, enough to make her an heiress, in contrast, Lady Elizabeth will have no income from her father, as his son from his new wife will become sole heir. A coming-out to society party is arranged for Elizabeth, but Lord and Lady Mansfield believe no gentleman will agree to marry Dido because of her mixed-race status. Lord Mansfield agrees to take a vicar's son, John Davinier (Sam Reid), into an apprenticeship for law, he becomes part of the Zong massacre case, this was the mass killing of 133 African slaves by the crew of the British slave ship Zong. During preparations for the court case, John gets very close to Dido, because of his interest in the cause of the abolitionists, Lord Mansfield tells him not to see her anymore, and ends his apprenticeship. Dido's aunts, Lady Mansfield, and her sister Lady Mary Murray (Penelope Wilton), seek to steer Dido into an engagement with Oliver Ashford (James Norton), younger brother of the bigoted James Ashford (Harry Potter's Tom Felton). James starts courting Elizabeth, but stops when he realises she has no inheritance, with no fortune Oliver proposes to Dido and she accepts, but she continues to see John, James takes Dido aside and says she will disgrace his family's name, then insults and manhandles her. Dido later tells Elizabeth of his true character and says she will give her part of her inheritance to help her find a new match, Lord Mansfield finds out about Dido and John seeing each other and confronts them, John professes his love for her, and later Dido meets with Oliver and breaks off their engagement. Dido is relieved when the oil painting is revealed, she is shown as Elizabeth's equal, she tells Lord Mansfield this proves that convention can be defied, he is ruling over the Zong case, he sees John and Dido outside the court, he says that she can only marry a gentleman, so reinstates John's apprenticeship, so he can become a lawyer. Dido and John share a kiss, acknowledging their romantic feelings, they went on to get married and had three children together, Elizabeth also married and had children, and their painting hangs at Scone Palace in Scotland, the birthplace of Lord Mansfield. Also starring Miranda Richardson as Lady Ashford, Alex Jennings as Lord Ashford, Lauren Julien-Box as Young Dido and Cara Jenkins as Young Elizabeth. Mbatha-Raw gives a good leading performance as the mixed-race aristocrat, taken from the slums into a life of luxury, the supporting cast including Wilkinson, Felton and Norton do well also, it is essentially a story examining aristocracy overcame racism of the time, and a simple men and women of wealth courting with great costumes, all in all it is a reasonably interesting period drama. Worth watching!

I wish something more positive could be said about Amma Asante's film. It is so eager to please with its sumptuous sets and costumes, its use of historic locations (including London's Kenwood House), and its precise attention to historic detail.Yet there is a fatal flaw at its heart. The reason is that the director does not seem to know whether they are making a love-story, a piece of social commentary with direct significance to today, or a heritage film, or all of them. Dido (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is a mixed race girl living in a bourgeois household under the protection of Lord Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson). Although theoretically free, she is denied most of the privileged due to her white relatives and remains the butt of casual racism from a variety of sources, including Lady Ashford (Miranda Richardson), and her son James (Tom Felton). She finds a sympathetic ear in John Davinter (Sam Reid) who after a series of debates with Lord Mansfield, eventually wins him over and they live happily ever after.Yet that love plot is complicated by the politics, centering over a legal case trying to determine whether some ship-owners were directly responsible for the death of a group of slaves. This is a true story, the outcome of which precipitated significant reform in the anti-slavery laws at the end of the eighteenth century. For contemporary viewers the topic has particular significance as it evokes similar sufferings experienced by contemporary refugees as they desperately board boats in an effort to escape their war-torn states, only to find themselves exploited by unscrupulous profiteers.Yet DIDO perpetually shirks this issue in favor of visual clichés - the lengthy walk by costumed characters, the pretty-pretty sites of green landscapes lovingly photographed at sunset, the clip-clop of horses' hooves along immaculately soiled cobblestones. It is as if director Asante were deliberately trying to placate a readymade audience. In truth several of these sequences are boring, holding up what might have been a complex plot and thereby diverting our attention.

It's hard to look at films about slavery in the same way after the relentless physicality of 12 Years a Slave, especially when they're presented as costume dramas like Belle. Fortunately for us, it manages to tell its unique tale with enough conviction and passion to step out of 12 Years's shadow.The year is 1765. The four year-old Dido Belle is the daughter of an African slave and a British Royal Navy officer. After her mother dies, he entrusts her to his uncle, William Murray, the Lord Chief Justice, and his wife. Although he's hesitant, he agrees. Dido finds a companion in William's niece, Elizabeth and together they experience a happy childhood, free from the nasty truths regarding racial relations. Yet, in her gut, Dido always felt something was amiss, as when she noticed Negroes in paintings were always positioned in such a way as to seem insubordinate to whites. She grows up and marital possibilities are considered. The Ashford family contain suitable candidates for Dido and Elizabeth, but there's also John Davinier, a vicar's son who's William's apprentice. He learns of an incident where a group of slaves were thrown overboard for the sake of the ship. It's to go to trial, a trial considered to be a crucial step in abolishing slavery.After the emotional punishment viewers received at the hand of 12 Years's brutal treatment of slavery, Belle seems tame by comparison. Combining slavery with the costume drama genre the Academy loves so much screams 'award bait' at first glance. Yet, if anything, Belle is not tame. Clichéd occasionally, but never tame. In fact, it's the ever-growing emotional intensity of Dido coming to realize the truth about the world and her place in it that form much of the film's core. The script is key in this regard. It's jam-packed--perhaps too much so--with impressive scenes where characters opinionate with the kind of clarity only film can provide.As for the acting, much of the praise deserves to go to newcomer Gugu Mbatha-Raw who's very persuasive as Dido. The more Dido becomes aware of her societal position and that she has to take action, the better her acting gets.Naturally, since this is a film based on history, there's the question of how much of it is actually based on history. Apparently, Dido wasn't very much involved with the case of the slaves who were thrown overboard. The film suggests her bond with William Murray contributed to his eventual ruling in that case, but apparently, he only called for another hearing where new evidence would have to be presented. Even so, the film's intertwining of both Dido and the case makes sense, because it provides a buildup of tension and emotional release for Dido.It takes a while for Belle to get going, but once it does, it's pretty involving. Although it lacks the raw intensity of 12 Years a Slave, the intensity is definitely there, particularly during the scenes where Dido confronts others. Not a groundbreaking film, but definitely worth a watch.

I have to say, this film is one of my favorite's ever! It really gave us the feeling of how racism and slavery was involved so much in the 1800's but to be honest, it's still worse today. It has never changed and unfortunately never will until we hit the ground...Gugu Mbatha-Raw looked so beautiful like the real elegant Dido Elizabeth Belle. She reminds me as Kerry Washington doing a British accent. Seriously I thought she was Kerry Washington throughout the movie until I saw Gugu's name appear in the end credits.I loved in the film that they showed Captain Sir John Lindsay and Lady Dido's relationships growing stronger and stronger every time they see each other. I was so annoyed she accepted her engagement with Oliver Ashford as he just wasn't right for her and plus, he hasn't got a respectable family. Also he has a messed up brother who wouldn't shut his mouth! It was so good to see Tom Felton after the Harry Potter years because really, he needed a break from being known as Draco Malfoy.I'm glad to have seen this film. 9/10