Out on DVD/Blue Ray today, Belle is a movie inspired by the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, a mixed - race woman raised by an aristocratic white family. Three times unlucky in the 18th century English society: Belle was a woman, a mulatto and an illegitimate child.
The daughter of a Royal Navy Admiral and an enslaved African woman, Dido is brought up by the family of her great uncle, Lord Mansfield, in Hampstead, just north of London.
The family social standing affords Dido great privileges and she grows close with her cousin, Lady Elizabeth Murray. But Dido can never escape the colour of her skin and, therefore, never be on the same social standing as her adoptive family. When Lord Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice, must rule on an important slavery court case, Dido and the idealistic young man she falls in love with, John Davinier, will help to shape his decision, thereby paving the way for the eventual abolition of slavery.
The family social standing affords Dido great privileges and she grows close with her cousin, Lady Elizabeth Murray. But Dido can never escape the colour of her skin and, therefore, never be on the same social standing as her adoptive family. When Lord Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice, must rule on an important slavery court case, Dido and the idealistic young man she falls in love with, John Davinier, will help to shape his decision, thereby paving the way for the eventual abolition of slavery.