As expected, Belle the eponymous heroine encounters prejudice both from within her family and from potential suitors. What's not expected is the jealousy she arouses in her white half-sister who though very pretty and from a good family has no dowry. It soon becomes apparent that Belle, despite her colour, is a better catch for young men on the look out for a rich wife since her father died leaving her a considerable fortune.
Belle's kindly guardian and Uncle, brilliantly portrayed by Tom Wilkinson is the Lord Chief Justice of England and is facing what became known as the Zong case. The Zong was a slave ship on it's way from the coast of West Africa to the Caribbean with a "cargo" of people intended for the West Indian plantations. Finding that most of the slaves had sickened and many were dying, the crew decided to throw them overboard rather than face the prospect of making a loss on the voyage. This cruel act was not so unusual in those days, and since slaves were considered property there were no legal penalties. What was unusual in this case was that the ship's owner had the nerve to make a claim on his insurance, in effect, that the "cargo" had been lost through no fault of the crew.
There is a good deal of chat between the characters about the case, and it provides the opportunity for Belle to do a good deal of thinking about her own position in society. Compared to many others Belle has had a very privileged upbringing and the film shows very convincingly how she grows up into someone who knows her own mind partly through the influence of the dashing John Davinier (played by Sam Reid) who provides the film's social conscience.
What none of this conveys is the strength of the performance by the lead, Gugu Mbatha-Raw who very convincingly portrays a range of emotions in a variety of situations, from sadness, offended pride, social awkwardness through to strong passion and anger. The complexity of her relationship with her half-sister Elizabeth (played by Sarah Gadon) is very well done... the two actresses shine in every scene they are together.
There is a portrait of Belle and her half-sister Elizabeth hanging in Scone Palace near Perth which was very unusual for the time in portraying someone with dark skin as the virtual equal of a white. View it here: http://www.hha.org.uk/learning-and-outreach-2/heritage-for-all/abolition-of-the-slave-trade-1807/scone-palace.html
This painting was part of the inspiration behind a novel I wrote last year with a protagonist of mixed race who struggles to make a living and find acceptance in 18th Century Edinburgh. Read it here: http://goldensquare.me/?page_id=54
