Trailerwatch: Belle (2013)

I've always loved period dramas, they're actually one of my favourite genres of movies. But one of my major pet peeves has been the virtual absence of women of colour in leading roles in these films.

So imagine my delight when I came across the trailer for Belle!


Belle, directed by Amma Asante, tells the story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the illegitimate biracial daughter of Admiral Sir John Lindsay and the niece of William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield and Chief Justice of England and Wales.

If you've heard of the Lord Mansfield ruling you'd know that it he was very influential in ending the slave trade in England and the British Empire.

Belle was raised by Lord Mansfield and the film depicts a fictional interpretation of her life as she navigates the social hierarchy of the world around her alongside her cousin, Mansfield's daughter, Elizabeth Murray. We also get a sense of how she could have influenced her uncle's feelings about the slave trade and his ruling against it.


What do you think of the trailer? Do you think you'll watch when the film is released in 2014?
Let me know in the comments below.