Belle (2013)

This impressive and moving film of historical fiction, set in late eighteenth century England, weaves together the story of Belle, daughter of an English admiral and an African woman, and the story of the law case of the Zong, a slave ship that threw its cargo of African men and women overboard. Complexities arise because Belle and her beautiful Caucasian age-mate cousin Elizabeth are both wards of William Murray, an earl and the Lord Chief Justice of England, and his wife. The two girls form a close knit bond and feel themselves to be well nigh sisters.

The girls are raised as social equals within the family, yet when dinner guests are present Belle takes her dinner separately. She is allowed to join family and guests after dinner in the drawing room. The complexities increase as the girls reach marriageable age, for mixed race Belle is an heiress and Elizabeth is penniless. In complications reminiscent of Jane Austen, Belle follows the girls through the marriage maze of conflicting English social values.

Historically and in the film Lord Murray commissions a double portrait showing the two cousins as social equals, the first such portrayal in European painting. At the unveiling of the painting, Belle is greatly moved, since it expresses her great-uncle's intrinsic valuing of her.

And now the Zong. The owners of the ship, having insured their cargo, are suing the insurers for payment of the loss they created. And the case now rests at the feet of and in the court of Belle's Lord Murray. In a climactic scene, he rules in the case: the shipowners may not collect damages. His judgment is seen historically as an important step toward the abolition of the slave trade.

Belle is a stirring movie, artfully directed and impressively acted. It's handling of racial issues is sensitive and eloquent. Rotten Tomatoes gave it an 83% rating. I place it in mid-90's.

Rest assured, the matrimonial whirl forces Belle to assert her integrity-and ends well for her