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Belle is based on the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the illegitimate daughter of Admiral John Lindsay and an enslaved African woman. As a child she was sent to live with her father's uncle William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, who raised her as a free young gentlewoman at Kenwood House. That same Lord Mansfield, in his capacity as Lord Chief Justice, was later called on to rule in the case of the Zong Massacre, a controversial court case that followed the deaths of approximately 142 enslaved Africans on board the slave ship Zong in 1781. The owners of the ship went on to make a claim to their insurers for the loss of the slaves, one that was refused on claims that the slaves (many of which were diseased) were deliberately murdered after being deemed worth more dead than alive. This is the backdrop of Dido's story, one that provides the film's climax and is very much linked to her journey to find a place in the world. As such, there are two main (though interconnected) threads running throughout the film: that of Gugu Mabatha-Raw's eponymous Dido Belle negotiating high society, and the court proceedings surrounding Lord Mansfield's ruling on the Zong trial. Toward the end of the film the focus is just as much on Lord Mansfield's moral crisis regarding the Zong Massacre as it is on Dido's awareness of her quasi-privilege and growing sense of identity. But the greater part of the film remains with Dido, her love story with her uncle's student John Davinier, her relationship with her cousin Elizabeth, and her struggle to find a place in society. Since the film was inspired by the 1779 portrait of Dido and Elizabeth, they are very much the focal point of the movie. I went out in search of the portrait on-line just to get a better look, and it is quite a striking picture, with the composed and seated Elizabeth contrasted with the more spritely and active-looking Dido. According to art studies, the fact that Elizabeth's hand rests upon Dido's waist is a suggestion of affection and equality (rather than a depiction of her being pushed away, as it appears at first sight). Gugu Mabatha-Raw's is a lovely actress, and throughout the course of the film she captures Dido's confusion, yearning, sadness and humanity in negotiating a world that doesn't necessarily reject her, but doesn't really have a place for her either. You're never entirely sure how she's going to react to any given situation, for though she's perfectly comfortable giving orders to a multitude of white servants, she is rendered awkward and speechless when coming face-to-face with a black woman who works in the family's London abode. Tom Wilkinson steps up to second base as Lord Mansfield, and gives a very dignified, low-key performance as an aging man whose fires are gradually being extinguished, weary with the state of the world and yet whose love for Dido is something that causes him pain and joy in equal measure. Ultimately his court ruling is framed as him choosing to do right by her as well as following his own conscience, and their held gaze after the verdict is probably the most heart-rending part of the film. Sarah Gadon balances Elizabeth's sweet nature with a certain amount of ditziness without going overboard in either direction, and Miranda Richardson, Emily Waston and Penelope Wilson all have supporting roles. They're old pros, but they know the film belongs to Gugu and don't try to steal her spotlight, though Watson and Wilson are each given an affecting scene in which the former appeals to her husband on the Zong Massacre ruling, and the latter recalls a lost love from her youth. It appears that Tom Felton is well and truly typecast as the upper-class jerk, but hey - it's not like he's not good at the role, and there's a moment in which where he comes across as truly frightening, above and beyond anything Draco Malfoy was capable of. And for anyone who just loves Jane Austen-esque period films, there's an abundance of beautiful costumes, set-design and locations to provide the requisite eye candy. It's a beautiful-looking movie, and well worth the watch.