Review of Belle (2013) by Le Anne L — 23 May 2014

I'm sure there are people born and raised in Nebraska who are Francophiles, Gingers who love the sun and Dutch who wear Kimonos and collect things from the Ming Dynasty and on and on, you never know why people have an affinity to, or identify with, things that don't seem to fit who they are or should be.

I've always been drawn to the British Aristocracy and fancy the idea of living in a sprawling country estate. I began reading historical Harlequin Romance novels about the age of 11 or 12 and absolutely loved all the etiquette, intrigue, wealth, entertaining and most importantly, no one worked. They had inheritances, dowries, investments, but few lowered themselves to have actual professions and never if you were a Lady. All of this appealed to me, but of course as an African American, I didn't see myself reflected in any of this, at least not in any lofty position. This is why the movie Belle by writer/director Amma Asante (who adapted a screenplay by Misan Sagay) is so exciting to me!...