BELLE - The Ugly History of Slavery Told in a Beautiful Movie

The hideous practise of oppression is an indelible part of history that should not be altered or dismissed.   This year's Best Picture went deservedly to 12 YEARS a SLAVE based on the autobio. of an American slave and depicts the odious brutalities of slavery.  BELLE is also a true story about slavery's inhumanity.  As the title suggests, the film is a handsome work of art that draws you into history not by showing unflinchable acts of cruelty but through remarkable acts of courage & love.  Time changes history.  Paintings can serve as an indelible document of an era.  BELLE is a multi-layered film that addresses discrimination & the courageous dismantling of norms of injustice.  The screenplay by Misan Sagay, who is Anglo-Nigerian, stemmed from seeing the painting "Portrait of Lady Elizabeth Murray" (1778).  Ms. Sagay was curious about the double-portrait of  Lady Murray with a companionable hand on an unidentified African woman.  While in the background, she too is facing forward & dressed in finery.  In her quest to uncover their association which is an anomaly at this time when slavery & class hierachy were eminent,  Ms. Sagay unveils the fascinating & perhaps forgotten true story of Dido Elizabeth Bell.  Dido, the illegitimate daughter of a British admiral and an enslaved African, is raised alongside, yet beneath her cousin in the household of Lord Mansfield.  Lord Mansfield was the presiding judge who ruled on the Somersett's case finding "{slavery} so odious, that nothing can be suffered to support it."  His ruling is considered the milestone for the abolishment of slavery in Britain prior to the United States. The entire cast, including Tom Wilkinson & Miranda Richardson is stellular.  The stunning Gugu Mbatha-Raw who performs the title role is sensational.   We are moved along with her epiphanies and by the evolution of others.  A picture paints a thousand words.  BELLE should be the one to win this year's Oscar for Best Picture.