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Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Desertman84 The year was 1769 as it states at the beginning.The British Empire was the country involved in slavery trade.Belle is a film that tells a story inspired from a painting that was done during that time period when a woman of British-African mixed ancestry Dido Elizabeth Belle standing beside her British cousin,Lady Elizabeth Murray.Apparently,it was commissioned by William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, then Lord Chief Justice of England,who happens to be Belle's great uncle. This British period drama film directed by Amma Asante stars Gugu Mbatha- Raw as Belle and Sarah Gadon as Lady Elizabeth together with Tom Wilkinson,Miranda Richardson,Penelope Wilton,Sam Reid,Matthew Goode and Emily Watson.The story of Belle starts from the time she was a child and taken by her father David Murray from the West Indies after the death of her mother whom little was known except being an African slave.Then she was taken to her great uncle,1st Earl of Mansfield, then Lord Chief Justice of England and grew up together with her supposed cousin,Lady Elizabeth Murray.Then the film centers towards Dido,who Belle is familiarly called,to her relationship with an aspiring lawyer and at a time when her great uncle is ruling on the case known as the Zong massacre,wherein slaves were thrown out of the ship by the captain's orders.The decision of the Chief Justice will ultimately lead to the abolition of slavery.Also included in the story is the search of Belle and her cousin for rich and eligible bachelor into becoming would-be husbands as well as Belle's search for the truth about society existing prejudices against those with people of African ancestry and existing trade for slaves as well as her fight for belonging in both her family and society.The viewers would definitely be treated with wonderful performances from cast especially Gugu Mbatha-Raw for her portrayal of Belle.We definitely see in her the pain and the suffering she has to endure due to being of mixed ancestry.We also get to see her hunger for truth about the existing slavery trade that the British Empire has implemented as well as her and her future husband John Davinier,a vicar's son,desire to change it.Also,Gugu and Sarah Gadon provide wonderful presence and charm whenever they are present on screen.What made it short from becoming a great film is the fact that it tried to be less offensive especially with its depiction of racism against African people and those with mixed ancestry.Was it because Amma Asante happens to be of African descent?I felt that more rudeness and hatred especially with the treatment of the would have made it more effective for the viewers to realize the pain and suffering these slaves and people of mixed race would have to go through.Added to that,I felt that the search for husbands of Lady Elizabeth and Belle became somewhat a major theme when less of it would have become better especially since what the viewer has to get from it is basically the how society viewed women of less importance and not equals compared to men as well as how people of mixed race are viewed by the rich and aristocratic.But in spite of these,I still feel it was a good film to watch as it did very well on presenting Belle's hunger for truth,acceptance,justice and change in society.

sabrinambayi-1 I love this film i've watched it like at least five times it is just so romantic the way they fall in love with each other and the chemistry these two have amazing and specially when they are together it's like the rest of the world dosen't exist this film is a masterpiece once you've seen the film you would want to keep re watching it again and the more i watched it the more i realise that they are some of the thing's that I didn't really paid attention to or didn't understand it really well. the film is just excellent and it's well written I mean thank you to the director to have done this amazing film love it

Irishchatter 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

HelenMary Belle by name and belle by nature... this film was beautiful, costume, sets/locations, script and general production were brilliant. The film, inspired by a true story and a stunning and ground breaking portrait, tell the story just before the abolition of slavery in England and the judge's ruling that started the legal process. Unusually for the late 1700s to show such varied opinions of racial difference it was exciting to see people having changes of heart and waking up to the (obvious to us) realisation that no matter what the skin colour we are all equal.Special mention in this film must go to costume design - the clothes were beautiful and whilst some overly pedantic reviewers may point out miniscule inaccuracies in various aspects of the film (ie the piano "goof") who cares!? I don't know how accurate they were but I thought they seemed in keeping with the age of the film and were fitting to the story. Belle's dresses were stunning, but then Mbatha-Raw could probably wear a bin-bag and make it look beautiful.The acting and direction, and editing, weren't always on point, hence only 7/10 rating. Mbatha-Raw, Watson and Wilton were perfect but I felt that the usually amazing Wilkinson was a little off and almost falling in and out of character in places, a little weak in performance. Sam Reid - Davinier - was well cast (prev saw him in The Railway man) but again a little watery and without some conviction, as were Tom Felton and James Norton as the Ashford brothers - unfortunately they were not up to their acting company despite playing brutish and stupid well respectively. Felton seemed to be overacting - a little pantomime - and I'm not sure that I was particularly inspired by Gadon's performance as Elizabeth Murray as I felt it was too one dimensional. It was perhaps unfortunate that the trailer for the film showed her in greater prominence and with a far more varied role.The story itself is inspirational and ground-breaking in it's time and I loved it, so happy to see more documentation of the open minded white people and brave (and in Belle's case, very intelligent) people of colour who stood up and were counted and ended the atrocity of slavery.